The Little Mermaid Retold
by dragomaster312
Summary: I'm pretty sure anyone thought about this, but what would happen if a human entered the world of the Little Mermaid? Garret, a young fifteen year old soon finds out the answer to that question by going on the wildest adventure he's ever experienced as he joins Ariel and the gang. DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Little Mermaid or anything related to this classic by Disney.
1. Chapter 1

**Let me just clear some things up before I begin!**

 **First and foremost, this story is an inspiration from a fellow reader!**

 **Secondly, I do not own The Little Mermaid! The story is owned by Hans Christian Anderson and the Disney version you all know and love is owned my Walt himself! I'm simply exploring an alternative story!**

 **If you like or don't like or want to leave me a review, let me know!**

 **Until then, enjoy!**

* * *

 _Darkness. He was in nothing but the pitch black darkness. It also felt like he was floating. Floating around like he was in space._

 _"What... what's going on? Where... am I?"_

 _He slowly opened his eyes and he found myself at some kind of beach. The waves were crashing against the shore as the splashed the bottoms of his feet. He stood up brushing the sand off of his shorts and looked around. There was nothing, but the beach. The beach and sounds of waves crashing against the shore._

 _Then he heard something. At first he thought it was the sound of the waves, but he soon learned that it was something else. It was the sound of a voice. The voice of a girl that was singing. When he heard it, it was one of the most beautiful voices he ever heard. However that made him all the more curious._

 _"Hey! Who's out there? Answer me!"_

 _He called out hoping to find out who was singing. The origin of the voice seemed to be coming from the ocean. He looked out towards it scanning on the surface of the water. Then his eyes happened to fall upon something on the water._

 _On top of a rock stood a lone girl with flowing red hair. She was the source of all the singing._

 _"Hey you there!"_

 _The boy called out trying to get the girls attention. The girl heard him and saw him. Feeling frightened the girl immediately dove into the water._

 _"Hey wait! Come back!"_

 _But the girl was already gone. The waves in the ocean grew more violent growing bigger and bigger. Getting closer and closer to the boy. Suddenly a giant wave came barreling right into the boy forcing him underwater. The boy tried to stay afloat, but was soon pulled under. He could feel the water filling his lungs as he sank lower and lower and he grew weaker and weaker._

 _He could feel his eyes grow heavy and start to black out..._

* * *

"Hey! Hey! Wake up nimrod!"

The boy mumbled as he slept soundly on the couch trying to ignore the sound of the person calling to him. A teenage boy named Garret. Then suddenly he felt a sharp slap right on his head causing the boy to wake up with a start.

"What the heck?!"

The boy immediately sat up and looked at the very person who caused his sleep to be interrupted. It was none other than his little sister who had an annoyed expression on her face.

"You awake now dummy? You're supposed to be watching the movie with me Garret!" she said.

"Good grief. Was that really necessary Lucy? That really hurt you know," said Garret grumpily. "Besides I'm not really interested in watching the movie anyway. All it does is make me sleepy and gives me freaky dreams."

"Aw come on! It's the Little Mermaid!" said Lucy. "I would have thought that you'd be interested in something like this! After all it does have one of your favorite things in it when you grew up watching Disney! Romance!"

"Me loving romance has nothing to do with loving this movie," said Garret. "And in regards with Disney movies, I've all grown up from them as well as romance. I'm a bit too old to be watching all this. Especially all the princess movies. Besides I've read the book and it doesn't exactly have a happy ending like the way Disney done it."

Lucy face then paled. "No! Please don't mention that horrible ending!"

"Why? Because you know that's the true ending of that little fairy tale? It's because of that that I don't watch the Disney movies anymore. They practically spelled out one thing; there's no such thing as a happy ending."

"Now, now. That's enough," said their mom sternly from the kitchen. "Garret stop picking on your sister. You know that she hates it when you mention the book version of that movie."

"Hey. Blame the writer not me," said Garret. "He's the one who wrote that lousy ending. Besides I'd prefer that rather than this sappy stuff and who cares if I need friends? I'm better on my own."

"You're such a boy Garret," said Lucy. "No wonder you don't have a girl or friends at your age. Keep that tough guy act up and you'll never get the girls to like you."

"Whatever. I don't need to have girl or friends to be happy. Besides it's not like I need anyone in my life," said Garret turning to his side. "And for that matter all of this mushy stuff about love all these Disney movies keep spouting. Sometimes I wish that they wouldn't be so sappy all the time. There's no such thing as true love."

"Now is that what you think?" said a voice. "Because I would have to disagree Garret. You probably just don't understand is all."

The new voice caused Garret to look up from where he was lying to find that his father had just come to the room.

"Hey Dad," said Lucy. "Welcome home!"

"Did you have a good day at work honey?" asked their mom.

"Yes. I did," said their dad. "It was a bit rough, but I'm glad to be home."

Then he turned to Garret. "Now Garret, I heard what you said and personally I think that comment was a bit rude."

"Well it's true," said Garret.

Their father stared at Garret. Then he sighed. "It seems that you don't fully understand. Garret come with me please."

"Ooo. You're in trouble!" said Lucy mockingly.

"No he isn't Lucy," said their father. "Now stop teasing your brother and watch The Little Mermaid OK?"

"Yes Daddy," said Lucy innocently.

"Little kiss-up," Garret muttered.

"Come on Garret," said their father. "I wanna show you something."

"Dad. This isn't gonna be one of your little lectures with a book is it?" asked Garret in an annoyed.

"You'll see," said their dad.

* * *

The morning was quiet with a light blanket of fog rolling in concealing the ocean. A flock of seagulls flew above the ocean savoring the wind beneath their wings. They eventually broke away two going in one direction and one flying another. Below the lone seagull were three smiling dolphins leaping about in the water. Eventually the dolphins stopped their leaping and the seagull landed in between them. They chirped to one another as if they were speaking in the same language.

Suddenly out from the mist a giant ship appeared ripping across the water surprising them. The seagull flew away while the dolphins quick dove under the water. As the ship passed over them, the dolphins watched as the ship disappeared into the mist with curiousity on their faces.

The ship was manned by a crew hoisting the sails, catching fish, going about their merry way as they sang a song known by all sailors throughout the world.

 _I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue_

 _And it's hey to the starboard heave ho!_

 _Look out lad a mermaid be waiting for you_

 _in mysterious fathoms below._

 _Fathoms below, below_

 _From whence wayward westerilies blow_

 _Where Triton is king and his merpeople sing_

 _In mysterious fathoms below._

As the men worked and sang happily, a young man was working with them. He was young and had black wavy short hair and blue colored eyes. From a glimpse he looked to be like the sailors, but to everyone else he was known as Prince Eric.

"Isn't this great? Eric said as he breathed in deeply savoring the air in his lung. "The salty sea air? The wind blowing in your face? Perfect day to be at sea!"

As Eric turned around, he saw a man leaning of to the side looking greener than the greenest seaweed. He was Grimsby. Eric's loyal confidant and caretaker.

"Oh yes. Ulp. Delightful," said Grimsby sarcastically. Then he felt the bile build up in his throat causing him to lean over to the side throwing up once again.

Prince Eric paid no mind to his confidants comment and went to help another sailor by tying a rope.

"A fine strong wing and a following sea," said the sailor. "King Triton must be in a friendly type mood."

"King Triton?" asked Eric his curiousity peaked. "Who's that?"

Not far away another sailor answered his question as he was throwing their catch of fish into the barrels.

"Why he's ruler of the merpeople lad. Thought every good sailor knew about him."

As the sailor began telling Eric the story, the sailors sang another verse of their song.

 _I'll sing you a song of the king of the sea_

 _and it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho!_

 _The ruler of all of the oceans is he, in mysterious fathoms below_

"Listen well boy," said the sailor. "There's a world of merpeople under the sea. All of which are under the rule of King Triton. He's got seven daughters and an old witch of an arch nemesis named Ursula."

"Ursula?"

"Yes. She's evil, ugly, conniving, and hungry for power. Because of this, King Triton had to banish her off into exile and she's still living there bidding her time."

"Merpeople?" scoffed Grimsby who had finally had recovered from his seasickness. "Eric. Pay no attention to this nautical nonsense."

"But it ain't nonsense," protested the sailor. "I'm telling you down in the depths ocean they live down there! Including Ursula and King Triton!"

He then sang another verse of the song the sailor's were singing with the other sailors joining in.

 _Fathoms below in the ocean_

 _lives Ursula, witch of the sea!_

 _She plots and she schemes and she wickedly dreams,_

 _of the day that she'll return once more_

 _Return to rule the ocean floor!_

 _She wants to be the queen of the bottomless blue,_

 _and it's hey to the starboard, heave-ho!_

 _So Triton beware there's a biggun' a-brewin'_

 _in the Mysterious Fathoms Below!_

Grimsby surprised by the sailors, hastily backed away into a barrel of fish which caused him to knock over the barrel. Grimsby was covered in fish. One in particular flopped a bit on his head before bouncing on the railing and diving into the sea below. The fish grateful for being back in the water looked back at the ship making sure that it was safe. When it felt that it was safe, it breathed a sigh of relief and then swam away.

* * *

Back in the real world, Garret was being led by his father upstairs in the house. Eventually they came down the hall. Above them was a small ball and chain. Garret's father reached out and pulled on the chain revealing a ladder leading up to an attic.

"Come on son," he said as he climbed up the steps. "It's just up here."

"Whatever you say Dad," said Garret as he followed suit.

The attic spread out pretty wide on both sides. The room was pretty long and was filled with old furniture, magazines, boxes and many other old things.

"Geez. It's so musty in here," said Garret coughing a little.

"It's not so bad," said his dad. "Personally I like the musty smell."

Garret's dad then looked around looking for something. He rummaged around the junk trying to find the item he was looking for.

"Now where is it," he muttered to himself. "I'm sure I kept it here somewhere."

"What are you looking for Dad?" asked Garret.

"Hold on," he said walking to the other end of the room. "I think it's... right... about... Aha! Here it is!"

He then pushed a couple of things out of the way and there stood a large object covered in a giant drape. He grabbed a fist full of it and then took the drape off revealing a mirror. It was tall, circular, in size about a foot taller than Garret's father, had a metal gold frame, and rested on a brown metal base. On top of it was a small teal like gem. When Garret saw the mirror, he couldn't help but gaze at the size of it.

"Where the heck did this come from?" he asked.

"This mirror belonged to my great grandmother," explained his dad. "It was passed on from generation to generation. When I was about your age, I was pretty much in the same position you're in right now."

"And here comes the lecture," muttered Garret.

"Like you I too didn't believe in love or need friends. When my mother heard me talk the way you did, she showed me this exact same mirror and thanks to that I was able to understand and learn some things and even I met your mother," continued your dad. "Like how to understand and find a happy ending and finding love and friends."

Garret was now puzzled. "I don't get it Dad. How can a mirror help you find friends and a happy ending and love?"

Garret's father smiled. "I'm afraid that's something that you need to figure out on your own son. Someday, you'll understand that true love exists as well as a happy ending and you'll. Anyway, I just wanted to show this real quick. Now come on. Dinner's gonna be ready in a minute."

Before Garret could ask anything else, his dad was already down the stairs and heading down the hall leaving Garret by himself. Out of all things his dad said to him in his life, this was by far the most confusing, but he quickly shook his head.

"He probably was just going on about nothing as usual," said Garret as turned around and left the attic closing the door behind him. "Happy ending? Yeah right."

As soon as he left, the attic was silent. There wasn't a sound to be heard. Then without anyone noticing, the mirror's gem began to glow and a woman's singing voice started seeping out of the mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

Later Garret and his family were having dinner at the table. They were having steak with broccoli and mac and cheese. As they ate dinner, Garret in particular was eating pretty fast and pretty quickly. Soon enough, he was finished with his dinner.

"May I be excused?" he asked as he got up from the table and put his dishes in the sink and then left the kitchen.

His father and his mom looked at each other.

"Is he alright Tom?" asked the mom. "Maybe we should talk to him."

"That won't be necessary Charlotte," said Tom. "Besides we both know exactly what's going on and there's not much we can do about it."

"But Tom, he's been like this ever since that incident in school last year," said Charlotte. "It may have been only a year ago, but Garret's still affected by it. He was so happy back then."

"I know honey," said Tom. "But wouldn't worry. We have to keep our chins up. Pretty soon and hopefully, Garret will get better and will soon believe in happy endings again. You'll see."

"I hope you're right," said Charlotte.

"Daddy? Mommy? Is something the matter?" asked Lucy.

"Oh nothing sweetheart," said Tom. "Just talking about grown up stuff. Now then, it's time to get ready for bed. Go on and brush your teeth OK?"

"OK!" said Lucy.

* * *

Meanwhile in another world far below the depths of the sea, a world that was vastly different than yours or mine, dozens of sea creatures swam about going their way without a care in the world. Fish swam with their scales shining in the water and blue whales floated on by singing their song. It was just a sea you would see in the human world if you ever dove down by swimming or by submarine, however there was one thing that made the sea vastly different and special.

A special place that was home to merpeople and fish alike. A beautiful castle that appeared to be made of gold shining from the rays above the water. This place was the kingdom of Atlantica ruled by none other than King Triton himself. Inside this kingdom there was a palace where he and his seven daughters lived. Inside the palace six of the seven daughters were gathered around singing in perfect harmony. it appeared to be some kind of rehearsal. Just then there was a tapping of a baton causing the daughters to stop. In front of them on top of twas a small red Jamaican crab. Now he may be small for his size, however he was of course the Royal Composer for the King. His name was Sebastian. While he is normally a carefree crab, he does however have a tendency of being crabby.

"No, no, no! Dat's not how it's supposed to sound!" he said shaking his head. "Please, sing in de way I taught you!"

"Yes Sebastian," replied the girls.

Sebastian looked among them and noticed that one of the daughters wasn't there and he knew very well who it was.

"Of course," he muttered to himself. "She hasn't shown up again for rehearsal as usual." He turned to the girls. "Has anyone seen dat Ariel? Dis composition need a voice like hers!"

The young mermaids shook their heads having no idea and also knowing that when it came to Ariel, she was always either late or missing rehearsal. Sebastian then hopped off onto the floor and set off to search for the girl.

"I'm going ta look for Ariel," said Sebastian. "Until den, you girls stay here and no funny business."

Then he left in search for Ariel.

* * *

Sebastian swam outside of the palace and looked around searching for Ariel. As he swam about, he passed by some merfolk who all greeted him as he swam by. He greeted them back and asked them if they had seen Ariel. Most of them did not, but eventually he got a tip saying that someone had seen her by the coral beds. Sebastian then went on his way over to coral beds and looked around once more. At first he couldn't see anybody, but then he saw her.

She was young in her teens about 14 or 15 or so, had long flowing red hair going past her waist, wore a lavender seashell bra, bright blue eyes, and had a green scale colored fish tail with light green fins. She sat on top of a rock staring wistfully up above her. Sebastian immediately knew that he had found Ariel.

"Ariel! Dere you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" he said.

"Oh Sebastian it's you," said Ariel.

"What are you doing all da way out here?" demanded Sebastian. "You do realize that you're late for rehearsal?"

"Sorry Sebastian," said Ariel. "I was just-"

"Staring at the surface again?" cut in Sebastian. "Listen to me girl, how many times do I have ta tell you not to ditch rehearsal?"

"Oh Sebastian. Don't be so crabby," said Ariel. "You're gonna get wrinkles if you keep being that way."

"I wouldn't be so smart young lady," said Sebastian. "Especially since you're going ta be fifteen soon."

"Speaking of which Sebastian," said Ariel. "Will I really be allowed to go up to the surface on that day?"

Sebastian clawpalmed his face and sighed. "Ariel must we go through dis again? You know as well as I do on your fifteenth birthday is de one and only day dat you will be allowed to go up and visit de surface. I understand dat what you will see up dere will be spectacular, but every mermaid who rises above de sea must return and-"

"All merpeople, men and maids, are forbidden to come into contact with human," cut in Ariel. "I know Sebastian. I've heard you and my father tell me this before."

"Good. As long as you understand," said Sebastian. "Now come along we have ta get you to rehearsal."

"I know. I'm coming," said Ariel as she and along with Sebastian swam back to the palace.

As she swam back toward the palace, she couldn't help but take one last look towards the surface. Aside of being a mischievous mermaid and missing rehearsal, Ariel was highly curious about the world above her. She wanted to know everything about the wonderful things the surface had to offer, but she had little to go on. However she would soon get her chance, for her birthday was coming up in a few months and she would soon find out for herself what the surface was like.

"Ariel! Are you coming?" called out Sebastian noticing that Ariel had stopped swimming.

Ariel shook her head getting the cobwebs of her dream out of her head. "Yes I'm coming!" she called as she swam after him.

* * *

Back in the real world, Garret was lying down in his room reading a book. He had just finished reading a chapter of the book he was reading and had now closed it putting it on his desk. His current attire comprised of a pair of black shorts and a white shirt.

"Well that takes care of that," he said to himself. "Took me a while, but I finally managed to get it done."

He then stood up and let out a satisfying grunt and then went over to his dresser to get dressed for bed. As he did he happened to come across a picture on his desk.

Upon seeing that picture he couldn't help but let a small frown appear on his lips.

It was a picture of himself and a young girl. He then picked up the picture and took it with him as he sat on his bed looking at it.

"Casey..." he murmured to himself.

All the memories of what happened a year ago as well as his childhood between him and Casey returned into his mind.

When he was little, Garret was a shy young boy who had a soft spot for fairy tales and also had a dream of finding a girl and living happily ever after. The kids in his school would often tease him about it. Except for one little girl which would be later known as Casey. The two eventually became fast friends and they stayed best friends for many years. As time went on, Casey and Garret had become teenagers and Garret started developing feelings for Casey falling in love with her. However the love was one sided. Casey unfortunately had no feeling for Garret at least in that way and because of that Garret was crushed.

And things only got worse from there. On the day after Casey had turned him down, Casey had moved away without ever saying goodbye to Garret or telling him where she was moving to. Ever since then Garret's heart turned bitter and he never believed in happy endings since then. He also stayed far away from the people in the school burying his face in books. The only time he ever was ever in a group was in class projects and other group assignments. During the lunch period, he would sit by himself either reading a book or listen to the other boys and girls talking.

The girls would talk about boys, nail polish, make up, and other girly things and the boys would talk about girls, skateboarding, football and other boyish stuff. Whatever they talked about, Garret paid no attention. There was hardly anything that he would be interested in. Pretty much at this point, Garret was now nothing more but an outcast.

Garret sighed and put the picture face down on his desk and lied down on his bed staring up at the ceiling.

"Geez. How depressing can this get?" he muttered to himself. "I've gotta try and forget about that. That's want I want to say but I just can't help myself."

Then he remembered his father's words in his mind when he showed him the mirror in the attic.

 _"Someday, you'll understand that true love exists as well as a happy ending."_

Garret let out a little scoff as turned to his side.

"Yeah right. Like that's ever gonna happen," muttered Garret as he closed his eyes.

He breathed slowly in and out trying to get his breathing rhythm. He was just about to fall asleep when suddenly he heard a strange noise causing his eyes to open. But it wasn't just any ordinary noise. It was the same noise that Garret heard in his dream before. The sound of a girl singing.

"That voice...!" thought Garret as he immediately sat up. "It's just like the one from my dream! But... why am I hearing it now? Am I dreaming right now?"

He sat up and looked around down the hall. The hall was very quiet. Figuring that the rest of his family was asleep, Garret quietly stepped out of his room and listened. He could still hear the singing, but it was very faint.

"What is that?" he wondered as he quietly tip-toed down the hall. As he ventured further into the hallway, he heard the singing grow slightly louder meaning that he was getting closer. Eventually he followed the singing till he came to the middle of the hallway. The singing was now coming from above meaning that it could only be coming from one place. The attic.

Garret looked around and then went back into his room and got a flashlight. He came back into the hall and pulled the ball on the chain pulling down the ladder. He climbed up it and when he was in the attic, he turned on his flashlight so he could see in the dark. He looked around trying to find the source of the singing, but the attic was very quiet as he shined the light over the various objects there. It was as if the singing had disappeared completely.

"That's weird," thought Garret. "I've could have sworn that I heard the singing in here. Either that or I'm probably just dreaming or hearing things."

Just then the singing came again causing Garret's heart to leap in his chest. The voice was even louder than before meaning that he was close to the source. He didn't think he was hearing things now. Although he felt a little scared.

"H-hello?" he called out nervously and whispering. "Is anyone there?"

There was no response. The singing just continued. Then Garret turned around. In front of him was the door to the room where his father had showed him the other day where the mirror was. The singing was even louder than before meaning that whatever was singing, it was coming from behind the door.

"No... it couldn't be," said Garret as he walked up to the door. "Could it?"

A little part of him wanted to walk away and get out of there, but a bigger part of wanted him to open it and see what it was. He slowly reached out towards the knob of the door and touched the knob. He turned it and then after taking a deep breath, he opened the door and looked inside. At the moment, the singing had stopped. There was nothing, but silence.

The silence was really starting to give Garret a bad feeling making him feel like going back. Then his eyes happened to fall upon a shadowy figure a few feet away from him. Garret then felt his blood freeze and bit back the urge to scream as he took a step, but then he realized that the shadowy figure took a step back too. That was when he realized that it was the mirror. The same one that Tom his father had recently shown him earlier.

"Good grief," he muttered to himself. "I almost got freaked out by a freaking mirror. What am I a scaredy cat?"

He moved towards it and his reflection moved close as well as if it wanted to greet it's parallel counterpart. Garret then inspected the mirror trying to see if there was anything by it that was causing the sound, but he couldn't find anything.

"This is so weird," he said. "I thought for sure that the singing was coming from here. I'm sure of it."

Garret put a hand to his chin trying to figure out what was going on. Then he looked back at the mirror shining the light on it. He placed the hand on the surface on the glass and sighed.

"Come on Garret. You were probably just imagining it or something," he said to himself. "Why'd you even come up here in the first place?"

He shook his head as if he was shaming himself for going on this pointless search party. Not to mention his memories of Casey returned into his mind.

"I'm probably going insane from all the grief or something," he continued running his hands on the surface of the mirror. He let out a sigh and then looked up at the teal gem that rested above the head of the mirror. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but... I wish I could go back to being a happy person again. At least that way I won't be brooding on this whole thing."

He then turned around and was just about to walk away, but then suddenly the beautiful singing voice was heard again causing Garret to stop. This time Garret could hear exactly where it was coming from. The mirror itself.

"No way...! It's that singing again," he said. "And it's coming... from the mirror?!"

Garret slowly turned around and looked at the mirror. He was expecting to see his reflection in the mirror, but this time it was different. The glass with now murky and cloudy so he couldn't see his reflection. It waved and rippled about as it was made of water. Seeing this as well as being entranced by the singing, Garret felt himself being pulled in by the mirror.

He walked up to it and staring at the murky surface of the it. He slowly reached out until he eventually touched the surface. When he touched it, the surface rippled and it felt wet like water. Garret retracted his hand and looked at it. He definitely felt the wet surface, but for some reason his hands were dry. Then suddenly the teal gem on the mirror began to glow bright blinding him.

"Hey! What the heck is going on?!" he cried as he shielded his eyes.

Then from the mirror something shot out from it and began to swirl around him. Thinking it was a snake of some kind, Garret instinctively flailed his arms trying to fend it off, but when he touched it he felt something wet again.

"What the...! Water?!"

Sure enough it was water. A large rope of water to be exact. It swirled around him going faster and faster enough for it became a dome of water. Then Garret felt himself slowly being lifted up from the floor causing him to levitate.

"Hey! What's going on here!?" he cried.

The water continued to make Garret levitate until it slowly pulled him towards the mirror and before Garret had a chance to scream for help or react, he was swallowed up by the mirror and disappeared without a trace.


	3. Chapter 3

Back in the world below the sea after rehearsal when nightfall came, Ariel and her sisters were in the dressing room combing their hairs getting ready for bed. Ariel however was deep in thought as she brushed her hair. She was still curious as kitten in regards to the world above her and this didn't go unnoticed by her sisters.

"So Ariel, did Sebastian give you a lecture again?" asked one sister who had a blue tail along with a seashell top and brown hair tied to a ponytail with a pearly headband.

"Doesn't he always Aquata? Besides Sebastian's always like that," said Ariel. "I'm used to it by now."

"I don't see how you should," said another sister with orange tail and top with brown hair piled on her head with a orange tiara. "Even Sebastian's lectures drive me a bit crazy at times."

"I just try to ignore him Attina," said a sister with a uniquely pink tail with a violet top with black hair in some style of curls with a pink tiara. "All Sebastian does is lecture and complain just like the crabby crustacean he is."

"That doesn't always work Alana," said Attina. "Sometimes Sebastian can be a bit overbearing for absolutely no reason."

Then as Aquata as about to brush her hair, she was surprised to see that it wasn't there. She then turned to one of her other sisters who had a red tail with a matching top and pale blonde hair in a ponytail looking very cross.

"Arista! Did you take my brush again?" she demanded. "If you did, then you better give it back."

"Um... I don't know what you're talking about," said Arista looking away sheepishly.

"Oh honestly Arista," sighed a sister who had uniquely yellow colored tail with a green top with brown ponytail in a pearly headband. "Why must you always have to take her stuff? That's practically stealing you know."

"Maybe Aquata's brush as a certain property that makes Arista's hair prettier or something Adella," joked the seventh sister who had purplish-pink tail with pink top with blonde hair in a high ponytail with a pink decoration on it. "Then again, it has always been a habit of hers. Hopefully it doesn't become a _perm."_

The seventh sister then chuckled while the others rolled their eyes groaning.

"Oh come on Andrina. Enough of your jokes," said Adella.

Ariel could only chuckle as her sisters went about their daily routine, but she was still thinking about the surface above her. She desperately wanted to find out more about it and what it was like to go there. Then she had an idea. Her sisters were all older than she was which meant that they had experienced the surface for themselves. She decided to ask them what it was like.

"Excuse me you guys, but there's something I want to know," she said. "You all got to see the surface right?"

Her sisters all looked at Ariel.

"Of course we have," said Arista. "Why do you ask?"

"Let me guess Ariel," said Aquata. "You want to know what we saw on the surface when we turned fifteen right?"

"Yes please," said Ariel eagerly. "Please tell about the things you saw up there!"

"Oh Ariel. You can be such a kid at times," sighed Attina smiling. "But if you insist then I suppose we can tell you. Right girls?"

Everyone of her sisters nodded as Ariel smiled brightly. "So who's going first?" she asked.

"I will," said Aquata raising her hand. "Let's see... When I reached the surface I looked up at the sky it was a dark shade of black and saw a beautiful full moon with lots of little stars. I followed it across the sky until I reached the shore leading to a sandbar. I lied on the sandbar and from a distance I saw the strangest things you would see from your imagination."

"Like what?" asked Ariel.

"Four legged seahorses guiding chariots which were balanced on strange sand dollars," said Aquata. "Not only that, but when I lied on the sandbar that night, I was able to listen to the sounds of humans. Chariots rumbling, people shouting and laughing, and church bells ringing clear and loud. It was one of the most delightful things I've ever heard unlike anything beneath the sea."

The sisters oohed from hearing Aquata's story. Ariel especially.

"That sounded wonderful, but it was different when I went up to the surface," said Andrina as she began her story. "When I went up there, the entire sky was a beautiful color of gold shining brighter than any other pearl that you would lay eyes on. The clouds above were also glowing colored violet and red as they sailed over my head like froth on a wave."

"Did any of you see any humans?" asked Ariel.

"I did," said Arista. "When I first went up to the surface, I saw humans, children in fact splashing and swimming about in a tiny bay. They looked just us merpeople only they didn't have tails. They looked so sweet and innocent, I wanted to play with them. Sadly I had to abide by father's rules about never making contact with humans. I really wished I couldn't though. Those children looked so cute."

"It was pretty peaceful when I went up there for the first time," said Attina. "It was in the middle of the ocean. The sun was shining, the sky was a brilliant shade of blue and the clouds were white and fluffy. The sea was also calm and it was so quiet that I almost fall asleep bobbing on the surface."

"It was way more different for me," said Alana. "When first went up there, it was the middle of winter and it was pretty cold. As soon as I went up to the surface, I saw large icebergs floating and the wind was blowing making the waves seem even bigger than usual."

"No way! That's how it was for me too!" said Adela. "I saw the same thing, but I happened to show up in the middle of a storm. I also saw this giant ship. It cut through the waves in the water like nothing. The sky was filled with dark clouds as it rained and I could also hear the sound of thunder. It was a bit scary, but at the same time I couldn't help but be awed by the incredible sight."

Ariel eyes sparkled with wonder as she heard her sister's experiences of the surface. Her curiousity about the human world above grew more and more. She wanted to hear more.

"Please tell me more," she begged. "What other things did you see?"

Just then, they heard a familiar voice calling out.

"Girls! It's time ta get ready for bed!"

It was none other than Sebastian. When the girls heard him, they put away their things and then went their room.

"Thank you so much for telling me your stories," said Ariel to her sisters. "It makes me want to go up to the surface more than ever!"

"You're welcome Ariel, although you should know that while the surface is indeed a wonderful and beautiful place, it can dangerous too," warned Attina. "You heard Adella remember?"

"I know, but I still can't help but think about it," said Ariel.

"I know, but just know that while the surface has it's sights, Father's realm here in Atlantica is by far the safest and loveliest place to be," said Attina. "Now let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day."

Soon after, all the girls got into their beds and were soon fell fast asleep. Everyone that is except for Ariel. She was still wide awake her thoughts filled with the stories that her sisters had just told her. She sat up from her bed and looked around making sure that her sisters were still asleep. She slowly got up from her bed and without making a sound being as quiet as she could as she swam to the window staring up at the dark waters of the night.

She gazed upwards, she remembered all the stories of her sister's experiences of the surface. She also tried to imagine the things they saw above there like the church bells, carriages, and all the other things that they saw. Most of all, she tried to imagine what the humans were like. Were they just like them only with legs? Or did they look like something different entirely? But, however as much as she tried to picture them, it meant nothing if she had seen it for herself.

As she continued to look into the surface towards the sky with a dreamy look on her face, she made a wish from the bottom of her heart.

"I wish that someday... I'll be able to go to the surface without having to hear about Father's rules," she said to herself. "If only I can turn fifteen sooner. I'm so excited I cant even sleep!"

* * *

As the night rolled on, every merpeople in Atlantica was fast asleep. Everything was quiet and not a sound could be heard. Until eventually the night was soon starting to turn into day as the sun starting to rise. In the outskirts of the the city, a small fish was making his way towards Altanica. He was tropical fish that was colored yellow and had blue stripes on his back and had the same color of fins.

"Whew. I'm almost home," the fish said to himself. "I gotta home as fast as I can. The last thing I need to end up as someone's dinner. Not to mention that I've been swimming all night just to get here. Man... note to self; Don't go out for a nightly swim."

Then suddenly there was an bright green oval shaped light flashed from above catching the fish by surprise causing it to stop.

"Hey! What the heck is going...!" the fish exclaimed shielding it's eyes from the light.

Then from the light a huge current of water in the shape of a whirlpool gushed out of the oval of light surging right past the fish. The current of the whirlpool was so strong that it carried the fish hurling it away until it regained itself from the force.

"What is going on here?!" the fish cried. "Is this some kind of freak storm or something?!"

As the whirlpool like current continued to gush out from the oval of green light, a small figure fell out of the current and sank towards the bottom of the floor until it touched down onto the floor. Then the whirlpool like current stopped and the oval of light disappeared. When the fish was sure that the green oval of light had gone, he swam towards the floor where it saw the figure drop. What the fish saw made it's eyes widen in surprise. There lying face up on the floor was a strange looking merman.

He had the appearance of a teenage boy with some strange white article of clothing on his upper body covering his chest and shoulders. He was fair skinned and had orange wavy hair on top of his head. The most interesting thing about him however was his tail fin. It was just like any other tail fin like the merpeople, but the color was vastly different. Normally the merpeople in Atlantica had one single color on their tails. This one had two. It was a gradient color mix of red and black. Red on top and eventually turning to black on the end of his tail fin.

"Well this is a strange color," said the fish. "One thing's for sure this guy's definitely not from around here. Wait... is this guy even alive?"

The fish moved closer looking very carefully to see that the boy's chest was rising and falling as he lied there peacefully breathing in and out.

"Well what do you know? He is alive," said the fish. "I wonder where he came from? Wait a minute... what am I doing?. This boy could possibly be injured and in need of help. I better head to Atlantica and tell his majesty about this! Ariel's going to want to hear about this too!"

And with that the fish pumped it's fin and swam straight towards the castle for help as fast as it's little fins could carry it.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun had just shone over the horizon gently waking on the people in Altantica with its warm rays. Ariel and her sisters had just woken up ready to start another day as did King Triton. The girls made sure that they were primped and went about their daily routines. Ariel however left the palace just outside of Atlantica in search of one of her closest friends, so she could play. She swam and looked around. Then she heard a voice calling her name.

"Ariel! Ariel!"

There frantically swimming towards her was the yellow fish with the blue stripes and fins. She waved to the fish smiling.

"Hey Flounder!" she called. "What's up?"

Flounder swam up Ariel panting from frantically swimming. "Ariel! Trouble! Outside! Whirlpool! merboy! Needs help!"

"Flounder! Take it easy," said Ariel trying to calm him down. "Listen. I want you to take a deep breath and the tell me what's going on."

Flounder did what Ariel told him and then he calmed down a little, he then spoke to Ariel. "Ariel. You're not gonna believe this, but I was swimming heading back to Atlantica when this bright green light shone out of nowhere and then a whirlpool came out! And then after that, a merboy came out of the whirlpool and then it disappeared after that. The merboy fell the bottom of the floor and I think he's needs help!"

"What? A merboy? Unconscious?" wondered Ariel sounding a bit concerned. "Flounder are you sure?"

"Yes Ariel! I saw it with my own two eyes," said Flounder. "I'd never lie to you."

"I know you wouldn't," said Ariel. "But it sounds kinda of crazy. We should go tell my father about this. Come on. Let's go!"

* * *

Inside the palace, King Triton was going about his daily duties as king. He sat on his throne awaiting his royal herald with Sebastian by his side as his assistant and confidant. Unknown to him, Ariel and Flounder has just arrived hiding above him from outside. Soon enough three fish that were lean with long noses that looked like trumpets blasted a royal fanfare right next to him. Then a small orange seahorse with a purple ruff around his neck appeared next to him holding a scroll. He then unraveled the scroll and spoke in a loud and clear voice.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" he said. "I will now address the first item on the royal agenda! The first item is..."

However, before the herald could finish, he was interrupted by a frantic voice.

"Your majesty! Your majesty!"

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Just then, Ariel and Flounder came swimming into the room.

"Ariel? Flounder? What's da meaning of dis?" demanded Sebastian. "You know it's rude to-"

"Never mind that Sebastian," interrupted Ariel. "We might have a possible emergency on our hands!"

"What seems to be the problem Ariel?" asked King Triton.

"Flounder just told me that he's spotted a merboy just outside of the Atlantica and that he might need help," explained Ariel.

"Yeah! He appeared out of nowhere from a giant whirlpool in a bright oval from green light!" added Flounder.

"A merboy? Appearing from out of nowhere in a whirlpool? Dat's the craziest ting I've ever heard," said Sebastian.

"But it's true!" said Flounder. "I know it sounds crazy Sebastian, but it's true! I saw it with my own eyes!"

King Triton then stood up from his throne now looking concerned. "Flounder. Are you sure you saw this merboy?" he asked.

"Yes. I know I did your majesty," said Flounder. "I know I did."

"Do you remember where you saw him?" he continued.

"Yes, I do," replied Flounder.

"Then I want you to lead us to him," said King Triton as he got up from his throne. "If there is someone injured, it's my duty as king to make sure that he's alright." He turned to his faithful crustacean. "Sebastian, I want to you to prepare the dolphins with my chariot. We're going to need a means of a transport to carry the boy if he is injured."

"If dis merboy even exist in da first place," muttered Sebastian.

King Triton looked at Sebastian sternly. "What was that?"

"Nothing sire! I'll get those dolphins right away sire!" squeaked Sebastian as he hurriedly swam away.

* * *

After the dolphins were readied along with a chariot, King Triton along with Ariel and Sebastian riding along following Flounder as he led them outside of Atlantica. As they rode along, Sebastian was still grumbling.

"I still find it ridiculous," he muttered. "Merpeople don't just randomly appear out of da blue."

"Well Flounder says he saw one that did and he's not liar," said Ariel. "Is it that hard to believe?"

"Regardless of how crazy it sounds," said King Triton. "We're investigating this matter just in case. So, make sure you keep an eye out for anything you two."

As the continued to search the couldn't see anything, but the beautiful coral reefs and the many different creatures that swam about. Then Flounder looked downwards and called out to King Triton.

"Your majesty! It's just down here," he said as he swam downwards towards the floor.

King Triton then stopped his chariot and he along with Ariel and Sebastian followed Flounder to the bottom of the floor. Then they saw the boy lying on the floor with Flounder hovering over him. When King Triton, Ariel, and Sebastian saw him, they were surprised.

"My word..." said King Triton.

"Well what do you know," said Sebastian. "A merboy plain as day."

"See? I told you," said Flounder.

Ariel swam over and inspected the boy as did King Triton. The boy was still in the same state as Flounder had found him, still sleeping peacefully. King Triton the gently lifted the boy in his arms.

"Is he OK?" asked Ariel worriedly.

"He's fine Ariel," reassured King Triton. "He's just unconscious. Although he does seem rather... peculiar."

"I'll say he is," said Sebastian. "Most strangest ting I've ever seen."

Ariel then saw his unusual colored tail and was amazed.

"Oh wow... Daddy. Look as his tail," she murmured. "Have you ever seen such colors on a merpeson before?"

"I... don't think I have," said King Triton. "Out of all the tail colors I've seen, this is the first time I've seen such colors."

"That's what I thought too," said Flounder. "One things for sure, he's definitely not from around here.

"So, what should we do with him Daddy?" asked Ariel.

"For the moment, let's take this boy back to Atlantica and back to the palace," said King Triton. "Hopefully when he wakes up he'll be able to tell us where he came from."

"I don't mean to question you your majesty," said Sebastian as he crawled on top of the unconscious boy. "But dis boy seems a tad suspicious and not just cuz of dat tail. I mean look at dat ting on his chest. What is dat? Looks like some strange article of... uh... something or other."

"Now Sebastian," said King Triton. "This boy doesn't seem suspicious at all, but I will admit that this... article he has is a bit unusual. I'll arrange for it to be taken off. Until then let us go back to the palace and we'll have the boy stay in one of our rooms until he recovers. Ariel, could you help hold on to the boy as we go back?"

"Sure Daddy," said Ariel.

Sebastian still felt suspicious, but he didn't dare go against his king. And so, they all headed back to Atlantica. As they rode along, Ariel couldn't help but look at the boy feeling her curiosity peaking.

"I wonder where this boy came from?" she thought to herself. "Hopefully we'll find out when he wakes up."

* * *

Eventually the four of them had returned to Atlantica and had arrived back at the palace. As they swam into the palace searching for a room for the boy to lie down with, the rest of the family happened to see them. Feeling a little curious themselves, they followed until they came to an empty room. The room was quite spacious and there was a large bed perfect for someone to lie down in. King Triton then gently laid the boy down on the bed and at the same time removed the garment off the boy's body leaving him bare chested.

"There we go," said King Triton. "Now he can rest in here until he wakes up. I should probably fetch a doctor just in case. Until then I'll need someone to keep an eye on him."

"Daddy? Can me and Flounder watch over him until he wakes up?" asked Ariel. "That way you can go get the doctor and you won't have to worry."

King Triton hummed in thought and then he nodded. "Very well Ariel," he said. "If and when he does wake up come find me right away. Until then, make sure he's welcome and comfortable and if there's anything wrong, don't hesitate to call me or your sisters for help."

"I will Daddy," replied Ariel.

"Sebastian, you watch over him as well," continued the king.

"As you command your majesty," said Sebastian.

And with that, King Triton swam out of the room. Then Ariel's sisters came into the room. They all saw the boy lying on the bed and when they saw him, they couldn't help but stare in curiosity and wonder.

"Who in the world is that boy?" asked Alana.

"I don't know," said Ariel. "Flounder just found him this morning and Daddy brought him here."

"He certainly doesn't look like anyone we know from Altantica," said Attina. "Maybe he's a foreigner?"

"One things for sure, this boy's cute!" said Adella.

"There you go checking out a boy again Adella," said Aquata. "But I will agree that this boy does look... unique."

"Yeah. Just look at his tail," said Arista. "It's red just like mine, but it fades to black at the end."

"I wonder where he comes from?" wondered Andrina.

As the girls gathered around looking at the boy, Sebastian shooed them away.

"Now come on girls," he said. "Dere's nothing ta see here. Now run along. Don't you all need to practice for da upcoming concert?"

"Oh, come on Sebastian," pouted Andrina.

"We just want to see if he's okay," said Alana.

"If by see you mean gawk," said Sebastian. "Now go on. Shoo! De only people that should be in dis room are Ariel, Flounder, and me."

And so, feeling a little disappointed, the six girls left the room leaving Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder by themselves with the boy.

"Whew. I don't understand why these girls are so interested in dis kid," muttered Sebastian. "I mean looks just like any other merman only with a different color of tail fin."

"I wonder when he'll wake up?" wondered Flounder.

"Me too Flounder. But for now, we'll have to wait until he wakes up," said Ariel. "I hope he does soon. There's no many things I wanna ask him."

Then the boy began to stir and groan a little causing Ariel and Flounder to look at him.

* * *

"Hey, you guys, he's coming around."

"Be careful man."

"Hey there... can you hear us?"

Garret was still feeling out of it as he slowly started to wake up. He felt the coolness of water all over his body making it seem a little cold. He also heard a trio of voice. One belonging to a young girl and the other two belong to two boys, an older one and a younger one.

Garret groaned as he slowly sat up rubbing his head. "Geez... what happened to me?"

His vision was a little blurry at first, but it then came clearer. Garret's eyes blinked open and then he saw something that didn't fully register in his mind at first, but then his eyes widened. Before him was a young girl with red hair with a fish tail whom he recognized as a mermaid and a yellow tropical fish with blue fins and stripes. Then the fish swam up to him and did the unthinkable. It spoke.

"Um... excuse me sir," said the fish. "Are you OK?"

Garret stared at the fish and the girl then...

"WAAAAAHHH!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Garret screamed in alarm and Flounder screamed back just as alarmed. Flounder quickly hid behind Ariel's hair while Garret quickly hid under the covers of the bed. He slowly peeked out from behind the sheets and Flounder peeked out from Ariel's hair.

"A f-f-f-fish just talked to me!" he stammered his blue eyes wide with shock and his face slightly paled. "And-and-and there's a mermaid too!?"

"What's da matter with you man?" said a voice. "You never seen a talking fish and a mermaid before?"

Garret then looked down and he saw Sebastian next to him on his right which didn't make things any less freaky for him.

"Wha!? A talking crab too?! What's going on here!?" he cried. "Not to mention how am I breathing underwater?! How did I get here?!"

Garret was now feeling his heart beating like a jackhammer. Then when he scooted back, he was expecting his legs to help push him back, but then he felt something thrash around beneath him helplessly. Garret whipped off the covers and his eyes went wide again with shock even more so than before. There where his legs should be was a red and black tail fin attached to his body.

"What the heck is this!?" he cried. "What happened to my legs!?"

"Da poor kid!" cried Sebastian. "He's so loopy in da head dat he tinks he's a human!"

A million questions darted through Garret's mind. Where was he? How did he get here? And why did he now have a tail like a merman instead of his legs? He felt like he was about to lose his mind and have a panic attack, but then Ariel calmly placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to look at her.

"It's OK. There's no need to be frightened," she said. "Try to take a few deep breaths and calm down."

Garret did as Ariel asked and took a few deep breaths. After that, he felt himself calm down a little and his heart rate ease up.

"Feeling better now?" asked Ariel.

"Yeah. I'm OK," said Garret. "Although... I have a lot of questions running through my mind right now."

"Maybe you can answer some of ours first," said Flounder.

"Dat's right! Like who are you? What's your name?" demanded Sebastian. "And what did you mean when you said something about your legs? Are you a human in disguise?"

"Sebastian come on. You're being paranoid," Ariel scolded. Then she turned back to Garret. "Pay no attention to him. He tends to be a worry wort sometimes. Anyway, what's your name?"

"My name is Garret," the boy answered. "What about you guys?"

"My name's Ariel," replied the mermaid. "These is my best friend Flounder and the crabby crab over there is Sebastian."

"Hey! I am not crabby!" snapped Sebastian.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," said Garret. "By the way, where am I exactly? I know that I'm underwater, but... where is this?"

"You're in Atlantica inside the palace," said Ariel. "Flounder found you just outside of the kingdom and then me and Daddy carried you back to Atlantica."

"I see..." said Garret. He then looked back at his red and black gradient tail. "And... did you find me... like this?"

"Yes. You also had some strange white thing on your chest," said Ariel. "But Daddy took it off."

"Oh, I see," said Garret.

"That explains why I'm bare chested right now," he thought. "I must admit... I feel a little awkward like this."

He then sat up from the bed was about to stand up, but then he saw the new tail fin. He knew that he couldn't stand like a human due to him not having his legs anymore, but he had to try and get up. He then tried swimming upright using his arms, but that didn't help very much. All he did was go up a couple feet.

"What are you doing man?" asked Sebastian.

"Trying to get up," said Garret.

"Den why don't you use dat tail fin of yours?" asked Sebastian. "It's dere for a reason."

Garret looked down at his tail. He didn't know anything about how to use it. But he didn't want to look silly so he thought he could at least try to use it. He moved his tail fin making it flop around as he used his arms to try and go forward, but then due to him not being used to his tail, when he tried to go forward he ended up losing his balance and ended up falling flat on his face. Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian were surprised, and Garret rubbed his nose in pain

"Are you OK?" asked Ariel helping him to back to the bed.

"Yeah. Just... not used to this tail that's all," said Garret sheepishly. "This is the first time I've used it."

"You mean you don't know how to use your tail fin?" asked Flounder. "I thought all mermaids knew how to use their tail fins."

"Apparently not him," said Sebastian. "Dat's a shocker."

Just then, someone came into the room causing them to turn their attention towards the doorway. There stood a large blue squid which was probably taller than Garret himself.

"Hello there," said the squid. "I was told by his majesty that there was a merman in need and I take it must be this lad."

"Are you the doctor that his majesty sent?" asked Flounder.

"Indeed, I am," said the squid. "His majesty had to take care of his royal duties and he sent me to make sure this boy was alright."

Garret couldn't help but feel a little bit frightened once again. "Um... are... you really a doctor?" he asked nervously.

The squid smiled kindly. "Yes. There's no need to be afraid of me young man," he said. "I'm just here to make sure that everything is all right with your body."

"Don't worry," said Ariel to Garret. "This doctor knows what he's doing. My father always takes me and my sisters to see him. We be right outside if you need us."

Then she, Flounder, and Sebastian swam out of the room while the doctor began examining Garret making sure that he was healthy. When the three made sure that they were out of the room they spoke to each other.

"Well that seemed a bit unusual," said Ariel.

"You're telling me," said Sebastian. "What kind of mermaid doesn't know how ta swim? Well... a new born probably. But not a grown boy like dat!"

"Maybe he forgot how to swim," said Flounder. "Maybe he has... amnesia or something."

"Who knows," said Ariel. "Hopefully when the doctor finishes, he'll be able to tell us a little more about himself. Until then it looks like we gained a new friend."

"I still find something suspicious about dis boy," said Sebastian. "Ariel. You and Flounder had better stay on your guard with dis one."

"Oh Sebastian, you're worrying too much," said Flounder. "He seems to be a good person. Right Ariel?"

"Of course, Flounder, but weren't you scared of him a moment ago?" chuckled Ariel.

Flounder felt sheepish. "Well... I was a moment ago... but not anymore."

"Well until the doctor's finished, we should wait for him to be done," said Ariel.

Then the three waited outside of the room and waited for the doctor to be done.


	5. Chapter 5

It took the doctor a few minutes to check out Garret. Needless to say, out of all the checkups Garret had been in, this was by far the weirdest. Especially since it was a large talking squid that was checking him out. However, he stayed calm and let the doctor do his job, even thought it was strange.

"Alright then," said the doctor as he finished. "Everything seems perfectly fine. You're a very healthy merman."

"Thank you very much sir," Garret said. "I must admit, I've never been checked out by a squid before."

"Well consider this your first then," chuckled the squid. "Anyway, I must go now. For the moment, I want you to take it easy and take your time and considering the fact that you can't swim for some reason, I want you to try and learn how to use that tail."

"Alright then," said Garret. "Thank you very much doctor."

"You're quite welcome," said the doctor. "Now I must go. See you later."

And with that, the squid left the room.

* * *

As soon as the squid came out of the room, Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian who were still waiting outside went up to him.

"Excuse me doctor," said Ariel. "Is everything alright with that boy?"

"He's doing just fine," said the doctor. "However, it's clear to me that he has no idea how to swim or use his tail."

"Does he have amnesia or some'ting?" asked Sebastian.

"Most likely," said the doctor. "Although I can't recall ever hearing of a merman who's forgotten how to swim."

"Is there anything we can do for him?" asked Ariel worriedly.

"Well..." said the doctor thoughtfully. "The only thing that you can do for now is to teach him how to swim. If he does have amnesia, then I think it would be best to take his time trying to remember."

"T'ank you very much doc," said Sebastian.

And then the doctor left leaving the three by themselves.

"Well at least he's OK," said Ariel. "That's good news."

"I still don't like dis," said Sebastian. "Dat boy is not a normal merman. He suddenly appears out of da blue and then we find out dat he doesn't know how ta swim? How do we know dis isn't some kind of trick?"

"Well... he seemed like a nice guy," said Flounder. "And we can't just leave him all alone."

"Flounder's right Sebastian," said Ariel. "You heard the doctor. He doesn't even know how to swim or use his tail. We have to help him."

Sebastian sighed. "I know Ariel, I'm just being cautious, dat's all. Well... now dat da the doctor's done checking him, I'm gonna go get his majesty. You two keep an eye on him and make sure if he does anyt'ing."

Sebastian then swam away to go find the king.

* * *

Garret was now sitting in his room all alone. He was glad that he was OK in regard to his body, but he was still feeling overwhelmed with everything that had happened.

"OK. Let's recap for a second," he thought. "One minute, I'm in my room sleeping in my bed, the next minute I'm hearing a strange noise coming from a room in the attic which turns out to be coming from a mirror, and then I wake up to find that not only that I'm talking to a mermaid, a talking fish, and a talking crab, but my legs had mysteriously transformed into a large tail fin?"

Garret looked down at his red and black fin. He touched his now smooth and scaly surface. The sight of seeing his legs now into a tail still freaked him out, but at the same time it started to grow on him.

"I may have been freaked out before, but... now that I've calmed down it's actually pretty cool," Garret said to himself. "Although... I wish I knew how to use this thing."

Garret then lifted his tail making the end of it hang in front of his face. He then touched the tips of his fins to see if they were actually real. To his surprise, he could feel his hands touching the fin. It was like he was touching his own feet.

"Wow... it really feels like it's a part of me now," Garret mumbled as he carefully felt his tail fins. "It's actually kinda cool."

He then played with his fins like he was testing the texture on them. They surprisingly felt just was smooth as his scales, only they were webbed and more flexible. At this point, Garret was like a child trying out a toy for the first time. The more he played with his fin, the more curious and interested he became in it. Then he shook his head as if he was snapping out of his childish curiosity.

"What the heck am I doing?" he asked himself. "What am I? A kid? I gotta stop fooling around and try and find out what the heck is going on and how the heck am I supposed to get home. I gotta try and look around. But... how am I gonna look around when I can't even stand up right?"

Garret looked at his tail and then on the floor. An idea then came into his mind.

"Maybe if I can use my fin like I would with my feet, then maybe I can walk... probably."

He then stood up from his bed and then made an attempt to stand on his fin. He unsteadily stood up and tried to keep his balance, but without his feet all he had to keep his balance was his fins. His tail couldn't keep him up and he ended up falling flat on his face.

"Rrrghh. I'm getting really tired of falling," he grumped.

Then he heard the sound of giggling which caused him to look up. Ariel and Flounder were at the doorway having to have seen everything. Garret couldn't help, but blush for looking so silly.

"Hey! There's no need to laugh at me!" he pouted.

"We're sorry," giggled Ariel. "We couldn't help it. Here. Let me help you up."

Ariel then helped Garret up and back onto the bed.

"Wow. You really don't know how to swim do you?" said Flounder.

"I think I just demonstrated that," said Garret flatly. "Man... this stinks. It's all because of this lousy thing. I can't get it to do what I want it to do."

"It's alright. You just need to learn how to get used to it that's all," said Ariel. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"A lot better than before, but still pretty overwhelmed to be honest," replied Garret. "Not to mention I'm still feeling confused being in a strange place like this."

"Don't worry," said Flounder. "You're gonna like it here. The people here are nice, and the king would love to meet you too."

"If you're feeling up to it, we can take you to see my daddy," added Ariel. "He did want to talk to you when you were awake and check out."

"I... don't know," said Garret shyly and hesitant. "I mean... how am I supposed to get around if I can't even swim or move?"

Ariel and Flounder thought, then Flounder had an idea. "Maybe I can drag you and help you swim?"

Ariel shook her head. "No. Flounder you're way too small to carry him and it would be too much for you," she said. "I'll help him." Ariel then held out her hands. "Come on. Take my hands."

Garret did so, and Ariel pulled him along as she swam out of the room with Flounder following. Ariel swam while pulling Garret along until she led him to the throne room King's Triton's subjects were busily at work with their duties. Garret was amazed to see the dozens of species of ocean life in one place.

"This is Daddy's throne room," said Ariel. "He's usually here, but he said that he had to take care of some things, so I think that he'll be back soon."

"I'll say this much, this certainly is the first time I've ever been in a throne room," said Garret. "It's pretty large."

Then another mermaid swam up to them. It was one of Ariel's elder sisters, Attina.

"Hey Ariel. I was looking for you," she said. "I was wondering what you and-" Then she saw Garret. "Oh! I see that somebody's awake."

"Yes. This is Garret," introduced Ariel. "Garret, this is one of my big sisters, Attina."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Attina," said Garret.

"The pleasure's all mine," said Attina. "It's very nice to meet you, Garret. So, where did you come from? I've never seen a merman like you before."

"Well... you see..." Garret began to say, but then he was interrupted.

For right then, Ariel's other sisters came swimming in. The moment they all saw Garret, they immediately swam up to him.

"Hey girls look! That merboy's awake!" said Adella.

The next thing Garret, Ariel, and Flounder knew, Ariel's sisters swam towards them and immediately surrounded Garret and pelted him with questions.

"Are you a foreigner?" asked Alana.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" asked Adella.

"Do you like rock n' roll?" asked Aquata.

"Is red your favorite color?" asked Arista.

"Are you good at telling jokes?" asked Andrina.

"Take it easy you guys!" said Ariel. "You don't want to overwhelm him! He just woke up!"

"Um... uh..." stammered Garret. "Yes, no, sometimes, yes, and probably not." He felt a little overwhelmed being bombarded by all the questions, but he managed to answer all of them. Ariel's sisters oohed and ahhed from his answers.

"Wow! I like this boy already!" smiled Adella. "He seems to be perfect boyfriend material."

"Geez Adella. Take it easy, would you?" chided Attina. "You just met this boy and you're already jumping the gun. Besides, I don't think this boy is the right guy for you."

"He does seem like he's a bit young," said Arista. "In fact, I'd say that he's about Ariel's age."

"That's makes him even cuter then!" said Adella brightly.

"Come on now guys, you don't want to freak him out," chided Ariel. Then turned to Garret. "Garret, these are rest of my sisters; Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina."

Garret was surprised. "Whoa... they're all your sisters?!" he asked. "Man... you sure have a lot of sisters."

"I know," said Ariel rolling her eyes.

Then Ariel's sisters then admired Garret's unique colored tail.

"Wow... I'm really loving the color of this tail, now that I can get a good look," said Arista. "The black really compliments the red."

"I know right? And look how it sparkles," said Aquata. "I've seen many merboys tails in my life, but none like this one."

"Hey Garret, have you always had this tail?" asked Aquata. "Or did you somehow change the color of your original tail?"

"Well... I've always had it," said Garret. "I guess you could say I was born with it."

As Ariel's sisters continued to admire his tail, a couple of the other sea creatures who happened to be swimming couldn't help, but admire his tail too. Garret couldn't help, but feel a little embarrassed. It wasn't every day that he would be looked at by a bunch of people and apparently creatures like this.

"Sorry about this, whispered Ariel. "It seems that my sisters are pretty fascinated with you."

"So, it would appear," Garret whispered back.

Then there was the sound of trumpets that rang throughout the throne room. Garret was so surprised, that he almost fell over. The trumpeting was coming from three fish who appeared to be like swordfish, but they had trumpets on the end of their noses. Then a small orange seahorse with a purple ruff swam in.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" he said. "His royal highness, King Triton has returned!"

Sure enough, everyone immediately stood at attention and a merman entered. He was a lot taller and bigger than the other merpeople, old, very muscular, and had had white hair widow's peaked, with long bushy eyebrows a thick beard and mustache to match. He also had bright blue eyes, wore gold gauntlets with several studs on them on both of his wrists and had a golden, five-pointed crown on top his head. His tail was a shade of dark blue and the fins a greenish-blue color. He also carried a trident that was golden and three-pronged. When Garret saw him, he couldn't help, but gaze at him with wonder and slight fear. Ariel's sisters then went up to their father to greet him.

"Good morning Daddy!" they all said.

"Good morning girls," the king replied smiling.

Then he saw Garret which made the boy gulp. Ariel and Flounder could see how nervous Garret looked, so Ariel gently patted his hand.

"Don't worry," she whispered. "Daddy may seem a little intimidating, but he's a really nice man."

"Yeah. He's the kindest king in the entire seven seas," added Flounder. "Just don't mention humans though. He really hates them."

Garret immediately gulped again and now felt more nervous than before. "He hates humans!? That's bad!" he thought to himself. "If he really does hate human's then I better keep my mouth shut about being more. Otherwise... I'll be on the receiving end of that trident of his!"

King Triton then went over to the three. "I see that our guest has finally awoken Ariel," he said.

"Yes. He has Daddy," replied Ariel. "This is Garret. Garret, this is my Daddy, King Triton."

"Um... h-hello," said Garret nervously.

King Triton then saw Ariel holding Garret's hands which made him a bit puzzled.

"Um... Ariel. Any particular reason that you're holding his hands like that?" he asked.

"It's just to help him Daddy," said Ariel. "After all, the doctor said he doesn't know how to use his tail or swim."

Some of Ariel's sisters giggled while some of them looked at Garret in surprise. The king however raised his brow feeling puzzled, He then turned to Garret.

"Is that true young man?" he asked.

"Y-yes sir," said Garret sheepishly. "I... r-really can't explain it, but... it's exactly as Ariel said."

The king then smiled kindly. "There's no need for you to feel so embarrassed my boy. These things happen. So young Garret, where do you come from my boy?"

"Well... it's really hard explain sir," said Garret. "I... guess you can say I'm from somewhere really far from here. I honestly... don't remember," He was very careful not to mention anything about being a human or where he came from.

"The doctor said that he might have amnesia your majesty," said Flounder. "I don't think that he can remember where he's from."

"I see," said King Triton putting a hand to his chin. "This is a bit puzzling. Well... if you're looking for a place to stay then you're more than welcome to stay here in Atlantica."

"Can he stay here in the palace with us Daddy?" asked Ariel. "After all we were the ones that found him, and I could even teach him how to swim and use his tail."

"That's a great idea Ariel," said Flounder. "And when he learns how to swim, we can get to know him and have lots of fun together!"

King Triton thought about this, but then he agreed. "I think that's a splendid idea Ariel."

Garret was surprised at Ariel's request and at King Triton allowing him to stay. "Wait. Hold on a minute, I... don't want to intrude on you all. I mean... I'm a complete stranger to you guys and..."

"It's no trouble at all Garret," said King Triton. "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you like."

"Th-thank you sir. I-I mean your majesty," said Garret.

King Triton chuckled. "There's also no need for you to be so modest either," he said smiling gently. "In any case, I would like to welcome you to our home as well as Atlantica. Ariel, I'm entrusting him to your care. Make sure that you teach him well and that he is welcome."

"I will Father," smiled Ariel.

"Are you sure that having Ariel as a teacher is best Daddy?" asked Artista. "Maybe that kid should be taught by someone more mature. Like me?"

"Yeah. I don't even think she ever had taught someone anything before," said Aquata. "I don't even know if she can pull it off.

"I can to pull it off!" said Ariel indignantly. "In fact, I'm going to get started right now. Come on Garret. I know the perfect place to teach you how to swim."

"Umm... sure thing Ariel. Lead the way," replied Garret.

Then with Ariel pulling Garret along, they both left the throne room with Flounder following close behind. When they were out of the throne room, Ariel spoke to Garret.

"I'm sorry about my sisters," she said. "Sometimes they can be a little overbearing and can get under my skin."

"It's alright," said Garret. "They're really nice though as your father is too."

"So where are we going Ariel?" asked Flounder. "Are we going outside of the palace?"

"Sure, we are," said Ariel. "It's got lots of wide open space that's perfect to teach Garret how to swim."

"Sounds good to me," said Flounder. "Plus, we can show him our favorite places to play!"

"Alright then," smiled Ariel. Then she turned to Garret. "Don't you worry Garret. Once I'm done with you, you're gonna be swimming in no time!"

"Thanks Ariel," replied Garret. "This really means a lot. Just go easy on me teach."

Then Ariel pulling him along, Garret along with his two new friends went out of the palace on route to the outside of the city.


	6. Chapter 6

Ariel and Flounder continued to swim while Ariel holding on to Garret as she swam through Atlantica. As they swam along, Garret couldn't help but admire the town and its people as he passed by. There were various merpeople and other creatures going about their daily routines either opening their stands or greeting one another. As they swam by, some of the merpeople and the creatures gave a friendly greeting by waving hello. Ariel and Flounder greeted them back while Garret gave a small wave.

Soon enough, they made it close to the outskirts of the kingdom and Garret was welcomed to a beautiful sight. In front of his eyes, was a beautiful corral reef. Everywhere he looked, he could see various different beautiful colors of the reefs and various different colors of fish. It like something from a documentary he saw on TV, only this was real and he was seeing with his very own eyes.

"Whoa..." he gasped. "This place... it's..."

"I know. Pretty beautiful isn't it?" smiled Ariel. "Me and Flounder always come play here all the time."

"Yup. It's one of the best places we go to play," said Flounder. "It has lots of places to swim and it's the perfect place where no one can bother us."

"And the perfect place for you to learn how to swim," added Ariel.

Soon enough, they made it to the bottom of the reef close to the ocean floor. Ariel then let go of Garret's hand while he sat on a rock.

"This place should be perfect," said Ariel. "You ready to learn how to swim Garret?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," said Garret. "I'm ready for your instructions teacher."

"Alright then," said Ariel. "Let's begin. Now... how do I explain this?"

Ariel tapped her chin trying to figure out a way to teach Garret how to swim, then she had an idea.

"Well to start things off, you have to move like a dolphin," she said.

"Move like a dolphin?" puzzled Garret.

"Yes. When I was little, that's how Daddy taught me how to swim," explained Ariel. "He taught me how dolphins and merpeople are somewhat similar when it comes to things like this. Only we merpeople learned a little slower than dolphins. Anyway, he told me to try and do what they do."

"And what did the dolphins do to help you swim?" asked Garret.

"They moved their tails," said Ariel doing so as a demonstration. "They moved their tails up and down and they moved around in the water. So, all you need to do is to focus on moving your tail."

"It's kinda like how I swim," said Flounder. "Only I swim in a different way."

"Moving my tail huh?" said Garret thoughtfully as he looked at his own tail. "Is it really that simple?"

"Just do what I do," said Ariel. "Use your tail to swim upwards."

Ariel then swam upwards as a means of another demonstration. Garret watched Ariel carefully and watched how her tail moved. Then he pushed himself off of his rock used his tail to swim like Ariel did. He left a little awkward in doing it and he was a tad slower than Ariel was, but he slowly swam upwards until he was next to Ariel.

"Way to go!" said Flounder.

"Hey. That wasn't so hard," said Garret. "Although I wasn't as fast as Ariel was."

"Don't worry. It takes practice," reassured Ariel. "You just have to keep on trying. Pretty soon, you'll be swimming as fast as me in no time. Now then, let focus on a few other things about swimming."

For the next hour or so, with Ariel and Flounder as his instructors, Garret began to learn how to use his tail to swim. It turned to be a little more complicated than he thought. He had to focus on using his tail to not only control his speed, but to also help him turn. It took a little bit to get him to normal speed, but Garret was a fast learner and he stared to get better and better with Ariel and Flounder helping him every step of the way. Eventually Garret managed to swim using his tail at a pretty normal speed.

"Wow! You're a pretty fast learner!" said Ariel. "You soaked it in like a sponge!"

"Well, I had a pretty great teacher," chuckled Garret. "Besides, it wasn't that hard once I started getting the hang of it."

"Now you won't have to worry about Ariel pulling you along anymore," said Flounder. "You can swim on your own now."

"Yeah. Look at me go!" said Garret as he pumped his tail and fins and took off swimming. "Yahoo!"

"Wait a minute!" said Ariel worriedly. "You should take it easy Garret! If you're not careful, you could bump into something!"

But Garret was far too excited to listen. He kept on swimming as fast as his fins could carry him. He shot through the water zipping past reefs. Then came trouble. A school of fish was swimming right in the path in front of him. When he saw this, he immediately tried to stop, but he was going so fast that he couldn't stop.

"Look out!" cried Ariel.

But it was too late. Garret swam right into the school of fish making him see nothing but bright colors flashing by him. Then before Garret had a chance to react, he shot straight into a hole in the reef and with a crash and stuff, Garret ended up stuck in the hole. Garret wiggled around and tried to get free, but he was stuck tight.

"Oh man," he groaned. "I'm stuck."

Ariel and Flounder then swam up to him.

"Are you OK?" asked Flounder.

"I'm fine," said Garret. "But... I guess you could say... I got myself into a hole."

Ariel couldn't help, but chuckle at Garret's little joke. "Well, I did try to warn you," she said. "Come on, we'll help you out. Flounder give me a hand would you?"

"Sure thing Ariel," said Flounder.

Then the two took a hold of Garret's tail and with a couple tugs, managed to pull Garret out of the hole.

"Thanks a lot you two," said Garret now feeling a little sheepish. "Sorry for getting myself into such a bind. I... kinda got carried away."

"It's OK," said Ariel. "Just make sure to slow down. You may have gotten the hang of how to you use your tail, but you're still a little green. Try not to go so fast until you get used to your tail."

"Alright teach," said Garret. "I will do as you say. So... what do we do now?"

"I have an idea," said Flounder. "How about we show Garret around town Ariel?"

"That sounds like a great idea Flounder," said Ariel. "We can show him around town and it'll be a great opportunity to give him a tour! What do you say Garret?"

"I say lead the way you guys," said Garret brightly. "I think I'd be great."

"Then let's go!" said Flounder excitedly.

And with that, the three swam back towards Atlantica to begin their tour. However, as they headed back towards Atlantica, unknown to them at the time, two pairs of eyes were keeping an eye on them. They belonged to a pair of sinister looking moray eels. They both were a blue-ish gray color and they also had strange off colored eyes, one side being yellow and the other side being white. As they kept a careful eye on the three, their yellow eyes began to glow brightly in the shadows of their hiding place.

* * *

In another darker part of the ocean, far away from Atlantica, there was a large skeleton of a creature who had been long dead for quite some time ago. Legend has it that it was once a terrifying creature called the Serpentine. The Serpentine was once used for gladiatorial entertainment by the Morays, but due to the creature going on a bloodthristy rampage, they were forced to put it down. Now it was the dwelling of someone who had long been banished from King Triton's kingdom long ago.

She had the appearance of a plump woman with lavender skin and white hair. She also was known as a cecaelia; a creature of the sea that was half human, half octopus with six black tentacles with violet suckers. She was known as the sea witch that most of everyone in the sea, Ursula. She was using the two moray eels which were her pets as her eyes and ears keeping an eye on Ariel, so she could come up with ways to overthrow King Triton and then become the ruler of the sea. As she gazed into her crystal ball bubble, she could see Ariel, Garret, and Flounder swimming along. Normally, she would take her chance and try to come up with a plan to cause trouble for Ariel, but this time she was quite interested in someone else. Particularly Garret.

"My, my. I wonder who could that young merman be with the princess?" she wondered to herself. "I must say, I do adore the colors on his tail. He must be a foreigner of some kind. Or maybe... he could be a potential enemy... that would make King Triton a bit miffed."

She put a finger to her chin thinking and smirking to herself.

"Alright then," she said after a few seconds. "Flotsam. Jetsam. Make sure you keep an eye on not only the princess, but that young lad with her as well. He could be of some use to me someday."

* * *

Flotsam and Jetsam smirked evilly acknowledging Ursula's orders as they disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

Ariel, Flounder, and Garret had arrived back at Atlantica. Ariel and Flounder first began their tour by showing Garret around the marketplace. There was lots more people and creatures than before, but that was all the more fun for them. Ariel and Flounder introduced Garret to some of the merfolk and some of the creatures that worked the stands. They even had Garret try some of their food which was mostly made from the things in the ocean. At first, Garret was a little worried due to most of the food being made of seaweed and other things, but it wasn't really half bad. It was just an acquired taste that we would have to get used to.

Next off, Ariel and Flound showed Garret to the Royal Treasure Vault. When he looked inside, Garret was amazed. They was shiny gold coins, sparkling pearls, shimmering seashells and many other valuable things. Ariel and Flounder never really cared about any of the treasures inside of the vault, but it was one of their favorite places to play whenever they had the time or chance.

After that, Ariel and Flounder showed Garret other parts of Atlantica. From the rooms where she and her sisters stayed to the city that surrounded the palace. There was even a large concert hall where she, her sisters, and even Sebastian performed. All the while, Garret was having a wonderful time on the tour throughout the tour. After the tour was done, the three friends decided to take a small break by riding on a large manta ray.

"Wow... this is so cool," said Garret. "I've never ridden on a giant manta ray before."

"Well consider this another first for you," smiled Ariel.

"Yeah. It's a great way to get around whenever you just wanna rest your fins," added Flounder.

"So how did you like the tour?" asked Ariel. "Did you have fun?"

"You know what? I did," said Garret. "I did had a lot of fun. I may have just got here in Atlantica, but this place is wonderful. It's got beautiful sights, nice people, heck there's even some talking fish and stuff. I could definitely get used to this place. Plus, I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of this tail."

And just to prove it, Garret gave a few wags of his tail to show off making Ariel and Flounder giggle.

"Just try not to run into any holes when you swim from now on," said Ariel.

"Hardy har," said Garret sarcastically, but he chuckled too. "I did look pretty silly back there huh?"

"I'll say," said Flounder.

Garret then lied on his back gazing towards the surface of the water from above him. He was happy that he had so much fun in this strange but beautiful world of the sea, but he couldn't help but think about his family back in his own world and that made him feel a little sad.

"I bet my family's probably worried sick about me," he said. "I hope they're OK."

Ariel could see that Garret was feeling a little homesick. "Hey. Are you feeling alright?" she asked.

Garret then realized that he was talking aloud and he quickly tried to shrug it off. "Oh! Yes. Sorry about that," he apologized. "I guess I was just thinking about some things."

"Are you thinking about your family?" asked Flounder. "And about how you got here?"

"More or less," replied Garret. "I'm thrilled about being in this place don't get me wrong, but I'm still wondering about how I got here in the first place and how I'm supposed to get home."

"Well... can you remember anything before you got to Atlantica?" asked Ariel.

Garret hummed remembering back to when he was at his own world. "The only thing that comes to mind was this mirror my Dad showed me," he said.

"A mirror?" puzzled Ariel and Flounder.

"Yeah. For some reason, the mirror was emitting a strange sound. Like someone singing," continued Garret. "I went over to see what the sound was and then I was sucked into it. The next thing I knew, I woke up and met you guys."

"How weird," said Flounder. "What kind of mirror does that?"

"I don't know, but it certainly was weird and the reason why I'm here," said Garret. "I just hope my family's not too worried about me. Especially my little sister Lucy."

"Don't worry Garret," said Ariel. "I'm sure we'll find a way to get you home."

"Yeah and until we find a way, you can stay with us until then," said Flounder. "I mean you're a friend of ours now."

Garret looked at Flounder a bit surprised. "A... a friend? You think I'm a friend?" he asked.

"Well of course, silly," said Ariel. "What else did you think you were?"

Garret stared at Ariel, then a tiny smile formed on his lips and felt a little less worried. "Thanks you two," he said. "It makes me feel a little less worried now."

Then they all heard a voice calling out to them.

"Ariel! It's time to come home!"

"That's Daddy," said Ariel. "He's probably calling us for dinner. Come on Garret, shall we?"

"Well I am a little hungry," said Garret. "Let's go."

"And you can come with us Flounder," said Ariel.

"Oh boy!" said Flounder. "It's been a while since I've stayed over."

And with that, Ariel, Garret, and Flounder all headed back to the palace. When they got to the palace, they found King Triton waiting for them.

"Hello Daddy," greeted Ariel.

"Yes. Hello your majesty," said Flounder.

"Hello you two," said King Triton. Then he saw Garret. "I see that a certain someone knows how to swim now," he said smiling.

"Yes your majesty," said Garret. "Thanks to Ariel, I've finally gotten the hang of how to use my tail."

"That's very good. Well done Ariel," said King Triton giving her daughter a pat on the shoulder. "Now then, what do you say we have our dinner with Garret being our honored guest?"

"Sounds great Daddy," said Ariel.

"And Garret, believe me when I say that you will find no better cuisine here," said King Triton to Garret. "It's the finest under the seven seas."

"Wow. Sounds pretty fancy," said Garret. "I look forward to it your majesty."

Then they swam off heading for the dining hall.

* * *

Meanwhile a great distance away from the Atlantica, a pod of killer whales was migrating across the sea. Among them was a small baby. It swam about happily as it traveled with his parents. The baby swam up to the surface and happily burst forth from the surface of the water letting out a happy squeal before diving back into the water. The other whales then joined it breaching above the surface of the water.

Then in the distance just behind them, there was a large ship. A man aboard that ship climbed to the top of the crow's nest and saw the whales.

"Killer whales!" he yelled. "Killer whales off the port bow!"

The crew immediately got two canons loaded with harpoons ready. They took aim and then fired them at the pod of killer whales. The harpoons shot right past the baby whale narrowly missing it along with his pod. No one was hurt, but all the whales were now in a state of panic. They darted around as fast as their fins could carry them. The baby tried to find his way back to his mom, but then he was hit by another whale sending him tumbling. When he regained himself, he swam through the bubbles trying to escape from the chaos as fast as he could feeling very confused and frightened. He made it out of the bubbles, but he didn't stop swimming until he made it to calmer waters.

When the baby thought that it was safe, it soon came to a stop trying to catch his breath. When it calmed down, it looked around trying to find out where he was and where his pod had gone. There was nothing, but the blue ocean all around him. He tried to call out to his mother and his pod hoping that they would find him, but the only thing the baby heard was his own wailing echoing throughout the water. It felt lost, alone, confused, and most of all scared that now he was all alone without his mom or his pod.


	7. Chapter 7

Garret was fast asleep sleeping peacefully. He then felt the light of the sun shine down on him causing him to stir. He slowly but sleepily opened his eyes. He groaned as he sat up, rubbed his eyes, and let out a small yawn as he stretched.

"Morning already?" he mumbled sleepily.

He then lifted the covers off of his body and sat on the side of the bed about to stand up, but then he looked down and saw his tail. He then suddenly remembered.

"Oh yeah. I'm staying at Atlantica now," he thought to himself. "King Triton even gave me a room to sleep in. Not to mention... I'm still a merman."

He then began to remember back to when he was a human being and began to miss the feeling of having his legs. Because of that, he began to miss his mom and dad and even his little pain in the neck sister. He then shook his head.

"No. Keep it together Garret," he said to himself. "I can't afford to think like that right now. I may be stuck in this world for now, but there will be a way for me to get home. I just have to think positive and keep on living with Ariel and the others. I'll find my way back home when the opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, I'll find Ariel and Flounder."

He then looked at his tail and the pushed himself off the bed and swam out of his room. When he came out to the main hall, he was hoping to find Ariel and Flounder, but he had no idea where Ariel's room was. He swam around trying to find it, but the palace was a pretty big place.

"Man. Now that I think about it, this palace is pretty big," Garret thought to himself. "I wonder where I can find Ariel and Flounder."

"Hey! You dere! What do ya think you're doing?!" said a voice.

Garret turned around feeling a little startled, but there was nobody behind him. "Hey. Who said that?" he asked.

"Down here!" the voice said coming from below him.

Garret looked down and saw a certain red crab was right in front of him.

"Oh! Sorry about that! I didn't see you," apologized Garret. "You're... Sebastian right?"

"Dat's Mister Sebastian to you!" said Sebastian. "What are you doing sneaking around like dis?"

"Sneaking around? I wasn't sneaking around," said Garret.

"A likely story," said Sebastian suspiciously. "Let me give you a warning boy, you may have got into da king's and Ariel's good graces, but I've got my eye on you, so don't try anyting funny."

And with that, Sebastian swam importantly away leaving Garret feeling confused and slightly irritated at the crab.

"What's his problem?" he wondered. "I would say he's being crabby, but that's probably he lamest pun I could think of and an understatement."

Then he heard a familiar voice. "Good morning Garret."

Garret then saw Ariel and Flounder who swam up to him.

"Good morning Ariel. Flounder," Garret greeted.

"Did you sleep well?" asked Flounder.

"Yeah. Slept like a baby," said Garret. "Say, that Sebastian guy, is he always suspicious of new people and snobby or is he just plain crabby? No pun intended."

"Oh that's how Sebastian always is," said Ariel. "He's just is too overprotective and he worries too much."

"But he is the king's right hand crab," said Flounder. "He tries his best to make sure that the royal family is safe from harm."

"Well he could let up on the 'making sure the royal family' part," said Garret. "So, what are we gonna do today?"

"Actually, if you're feeling up to it, me and Flounder were hoping that we could help you practice swimming some more," said Ariel.

"Oh come on Ariel. Is that even necessary anymore?" asked Garret. "I'd say that I've pretty much gotten the hang on using this old thing."

And just to prove it, Garret showed off by swimming in a circle.

Ariel chuckled. "Yeah that's true, but we don't want you to get into another accident like yesterday do we?"

Garret blushed with embarrassment remembering what Ariel meant while Flounder snickered quietly.

"Har har," he said sarcastically, but then he smiled. "Alright then. You got me on that one Ariel."

"Great," said Ariel. "Me and Flounder can even show you a few tricks you can do while you're swimming."

"Sounds awesome," said Garret. "Let's go then."

Then the three friends swam out of the palace towards the outside of the kingdom. On the

When the three friends reached the outside of the kingdom, they towards an open place on the ocean floor and were just about to get started with Garret's practice, when they heard a strange noise. It was a loud moaning sound that echoed throughout the area.

"Hey. Do you guys hear that?" asked Garret.

"Yes. I do, but... what is that sound?" wondered Ariel.

"Could it be some kind of whale or something?" asked Garret.

"I don't know," said Flounder. "But it's scary."

"No, it's not," insisted Ariel. "It's... sad."

Garret listened more closely and could hear that Ariel was right. He could tell that whatever was making that noise did sound a bit sad. Ariel then suddenly swam ahead of them following the sound.

"Garret! Flounder! Come on!" she called. "Let's find out what that is!"

"Ariel, wait!" Flounder called back.

"Wait for us!" Garret said as he and Flounder followed Ariel in pursuit.

* * *

Meanwhile, the baby killer whale was still searching for his mother and his pod calling to them, but so far he couldn't find either one. The baby let out a sad whine as it was beginning to lose hope. Then the baby sensed something. Something was coming this way. The baby looked to his right hoping that it would be his mother or someone from his pod, but unfortunately it wasn't.

A great white shark slowly snaked out from the corner. It was big, it was mean, had piercing yellow eyes, and razor sharp teeth. The baby gasped in terror for he could see that the shark was coming towards his way. He had to hide before the shark saw him. He frantically looked around trying to find a place to hide. Then he saw a large bush of seaweed. The baby immediately swam for his life and dove right into the bush trying to be not to be seen as much as possible.

The shark grew closer and closer and the little baby trembled and his heart began beating like a jackhammer. He shut his eyes and prayed that the beast wouldn't find him. The shark was now right above him searching for any prey that was close by in the area. The great white looked and he looked, but he couldn't find any prey anywhere. Finally giving up, the shark decided to move on and slowly snaked away.

* * *

Not too far away, Ariel, Garret, and Flounder were still following the source of the sound which lead them to a different and slightly darker part of the area. Then, just when they thought they found the source of the sound, everything went quiet.

"Now it's stopped..." said Ariel as she looked around.

"Maybe it was just... you know just a noise," said Flounder.

"No, it was somebody calling for help," insisted Ariel as she looked around.

"What if that somebody's calling for lunch?" asked Flounder nervously.

"Don't even say that Flounder," said Garret. "You're overreacting."

"Well if you're scared, then you stay here Flounder," said Ariel. "Garret and I are gonna look to go over behind that reef. Come on Garret."

"Alright then, Ariel," said Garret. "Lead the way."

And so Garret and Ariel went over to the reef leaving Flounder by himself. He felt a little huffy. He then swam into to the seaweed bushes looking around. Flounder may have been trying to be brave, but on the inside he was feeling a little scared.

"I'm not scared," he grumped. "You two can look over there... and... I'll... look over here. And I'll let you now if... I... uh... I... I..."

Flounder's voice then trailed off for inside of the seaweed in the bushes, he saw something that made his heart stop with fear. It was black and it seemed to be moving. Then the thing opened revealing a large blue eye.

"ARIEL!" cried Flounder in horror.

Ariel and Garret immediately stopped and looked towards the direction of Flounder's cry of terror. The two immediately swam towards the seaweed bush. Then suddenly something large, black, and white shot out of the bush going right past Flounder and then past Ariel and Garret kicking up bubbles everywhere. The two went over to Flounder to see if he was hurt.

"Flounder are you alright?" asked Ariel cupping the fish in her hands.

Flounder was dazed and a little dizzy, but he responded with a nod. Ariel then looked towards the direction of where the thing that swam by them. What she saw made her eyes widen in surprise.

"Garret. Flounder. Look," she said pointing.

The two turned around and then saw it too. There hiding behind a cave-like formation a few feet away was a small, scared, black and white creature which Garret never expected to see before his eyes.

"Whoa," he gasped with wonder. "It's... it's a..."

"A k-k-killer whale!" squeaked Flounder who hid behind Ariel's hair still feeling terrified.

"It's only a little one," reassured Ariel.

"You call that little?! His teeth are bigger than I am!" the guppy replied.

"Flounder, you're overreacting again," said Garret. "Besides, I'd say it's probably more scared of you than you are of it."

Ariel then swam a little close to the creature. "Come on, come on," said Ariel gently trying to coax out the baby. "It's all right. Nobody's going to hurt you."

"Nobody's going to hurt him?!" asked Flounder incredulously.

"Flounder, be quiet," hushed Garret. "She's trying to get him to trust us."

The baby killer whale was still frightened of the three, but he slowly came out of the cave towards Ariel. The little whale swam around them still feeling frightened, but he also had some slight curiousity.

"That's it... that's the way Spot," said Ariel.

"Spot?" questioned Flounder and Garret.

"That's right," smiled Ariel as she pointed to a white spot that was on the end of the baby's tail as he swam by. "See? Right there."

"I get it, the spot on his tail," understood Garret.

Ariel then spoke kindly to Spot. "There, you see? You're safe. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

Spot still feeling frightened and less than trusting quickly hid back into the rock formation peeking out.

"Looks like he's still afraid," said Garret. "If only there was some way to calm him down."

Then Ariel swam a little closer to Spot and then she began to sing.

 _Poor little frightened baby_

"Baby?" questioned Flounder and Garret.

 _Wandering on your own_  
 _You've been through a lot_  
 _Haven't you, Spot?_

"Poor Spot, where's your mother?" asked Ariel. "Where's your family?"

Spot responded by letting out a sad moan and looking like he was about to cry.

"Don't cry spot," soothed Ariel. "I'll take care of you."

 _Everyone needs a family_  
 _No one should be alone_  
 _Garret_ _, Flounder and me_  
 _We're gonna be_  
 _The family you've never known_

Spot then slowly came out of his hiding place again and Ariel then turned to her two friends. "Flounder, Garret. We have to take him home with us."

Garret and Flounder's eyes widened. "We have to WHAT?!" they exclaimed.

"Oh, come on you two, can't you see?" asked Ariel as she resumed singing.

 _Just a little love_  
 _And he'll be good as new_  
 _In just a little while_  
 _Watch a smile come shining through_  
 _He's just a little scared_  
 _He needs a friend today_  
 _He needs a little love_  
 _How can I turn away?_

As she sang, Garret couldn't help but stare with wonder as Spot slowly and finally began to open up to Ariel. Not only that, but Garret thought that Ariel's voice was one of the most beautiful things he ever heard in his life. And it wasn't just him who was entranced by Ariel's singing, Spot loved it too. So much so, that Spot began to hum in tune with Ariel's singing.

"Well, would you look at that," murmured Garret.

"He's singing!" said Ariel happily.

"He sounds just like you," agreed Flounder. "Well... sorta."

Spot then zipped by Flounder making him spin around and around. He then swam over to Garret and then gave him a small nuzzle to his cheek.

"Aw see, he likes you two," smiled Ariel. "You two could his big brothers."

"I don't wanna be his big brother," complained Flounder. "I don't want to be his midnight snack either."

"That aside, are you sure this is a good idea Ariel?" asked Garret. "I mean it might not work."

"Yes it will," smiled Ariel as she began to sing again while swimming with Spot.

 _Just a little love_  
 _That's how you begin_  
 _Showing him you care_  
 _Being there to tuck him in_  
 _Helping him to grow_  
 _Each and every day_  
 _Just a little love_  
 _Can go a long, long way_

When Ariel finished singing, Spot's fear had completely disappeared and now looked very happy. Garret was still amazed for what had just happened.

"Unbelievable..." he murmured. "That... was incredible Ariel. How are you able to sing like that? It was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."

"It's nothing special," smiled Ariel. "It's just something I was born with. Plus I had some practice. Now come on, let's get back to Atlantica. We're taking Spot with us."

"But Ariel, I'm telling you it's not gonna work!" said Flounder.

"Do you even have a place to even keep him?" asked Garret.

"Of course I do," said Ariel. "Now come on. Let's go."

"Ariel!" complained Flounder who was still against the idea of having Spot stay with them in Atlantica, but Ariel wouldn't listen. Her mind was made up. She along with Spot both started back to Atlantica leaving Flounder and Garret behind.

"Is she always this stubborn?" asked Garret.

"You have no idea," said Flounder.

And so having no other choice, Flounder and Garret followed Ariel and Spot back to Atlantica.

* * *

At the Royal Palace, Sebastian was merrily walking down the halls humming a little tune that he came up with. As he crawled along, he happened to see his reflection on a shell. He couldn't help but admire his reflection.

"Funny how a good-looking crab just naturally looks good in anyting he throws on," he mused as he struck a pose.

As he continued to admire himself, Ariel peeped out making sure Sebastian was distracted then she along with Garret, Flounder, and Spot quickly swam past Sebastian before he would notice.

Sebastian hearing something go by him looked back in time to see the shadow of someone's tail fin disappear from a corner. This made him suspicious.

Ariel then led her friend to another spare room a large seashell door. They all went inside and the door shut behind them.

"This is where you're going to live spot," Ariel spoke to the whale. "Do you like it?"

Spot chirped happily as he nuzzled against Ariel. He swam around the room feeling very curious to his surroundings. He then found a flower that was on top of a shelf. Spot sniffed at it wondering what it was, but then the flower sneezed blowing bubbles at Spot's nose. Feeling a tickle in his nose, Spot let out a big sneeze blowing him backwards causing him to bump into a stand carrying some large shells in Flounder's direction. Shells went flying everywhere with some crashing into the floor. Flounder tried to get away, but a shell ended up landing on him. He waddled around on the floor standing on his fins. Ariel and Garret couldn't help, but laugh because of Flounder looking so silly.

"Hold on Flounder, let me give you a hand," chuckled Garret as he grabbed the shell and shook it until Flounder fell out of the shell.

Flounder then turned to Ariel. "Ariel, you know that he shouldn't be in here!" he complained. "Killer whales are horrible! They're the worst things in the sea!"

Spot then swam up to Ariel and holding a couple of flowers in his mouth from which he had just picked from a flower bed in the room. Ariel couldn't help, but chuckle not paying attention to Flounder.

"Flounder. Seriously, you need to take it easy," said Garret. "I know you're frightened of killer whales, but even I can see that Spot's harmless."

"He's dangerous, you'll see," said Flounder. "One day, he'll you turn on you both with all those terrible teeth and then... GRRR!"

Then Flounder made a terrifying face barring his teeth like a shark. Spot let out a startled yelp and was so frightened that he swam out of the room.

"Spot! Come back!" cried Ariel.

Ariel, Garret, and Flounder swam after him in hot pursuit and were able to grab Spot before he could go far. With Ariel pulling Spot by his fin, Flounder pushing on his dorsal fin, and Garret pushing his snout, the three friends dragged spot back into the room.

"Flounder, you scared him," scolded Ariel.

Flounder was surprised. " _I_ scared him? Nobody's ever been scared of me," he said.

"Guess you're scarier than you thought," said Garret. "Then again Spot's a baby after all."

Flounder then turned to Spot. "I'm sorry Spot. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm your big brother."

Spot then nuzzled against Flounder accepting his apology. Then there was a knock on the door and they all heard a voice that made them jump.

"Ariel? Is dat you in dere? It's me," said the voice.

Garret knew who that was. "Oh no! It's Sebastian!" he cried.

"We got to hide him! Quick!" said Ariel frantically.

She and Garret then moved Spot towards the bed and quickly covered him up with a blanket to hide him. Ariel then answered the door while Garret and Flounder stood guard over Spot to make sure he was covered. When she opened the door, she found that it was Sebastian looking very suspicious.

"Sebastian," said Ariel feigning surprise as Sebastian came in. "Flounder, Garret, and I were just saying-

"Flounder, Garret, and you and who else?" asked the crab as he came into the room.

Then Ariel noticed at Spot was peeking out from under the blanket. She immediately swam quickly over to the bed and hastily covered Spot.

"Nobody else!" she said quickly. "Right Garret?"

"Nope! Nobody else here!" said Garret. "Just us!"

Sebastian suspecting nothing, then jumped on the bed post to speak to Ariel.

"I just came ta remind you about da big Spring Celebration," said Sebastian.

"The Big Spring Celebration?" puzzled Garret. "What's that?"

"It's a big concert that's coming up," said Ariel. "But Sebastian should know by now that it's not till three months away."

"I know dat, but if I don't start in on you now, you're sure to forget about it and not show up," said Sebastian. "So I'm going ta keep reminding you every time I spot you."

At that moment, Spot peeked out from the blanket again. Ariel then quickly put the covers back before Sebastian could notice. Then there was trouble. Sebastian then hopped on Spot's nose on top of the covers and then started to climb towards the top of him pulling down the covers as he climbed. Ariel covered her eyes and peeped through them with horror, Garret bit his nails nervously, and Flounder gawked as Sebastian continued taking about the concert.

"Well anyway, dis year's concert's gonna really hit da spot," he said. "Wrote me a little number, see? I start it off alone with a solo spot..." He then sighed dreamily. "A solo spot."

Then he felt something move below his crab legs and let out a friendly squeak. He looked down he could see that he was standing right on top of Spot's head. A few seconds of silence passed, then Sebastian screamed in surprise jumping right of Spot's head and backed away while Spot feeling startled as well hid behind the bed.

"What you all doing with dat whale?!" shrieked Sebastian.

"Well... he just...uh... he just sort of followed us home," said Ariel innocently.

"Real smooth, Ariel," muttered Garret.

"Followed you home?! Dat's a killer whale!" yelled Sebastian.

"Relax Crabby," said Garret. "He's not gonna hurt you or anything. He's just a baby."

Spot then came out of hiding and let out a friendly squeak while waving his flipper.

"And I'm his big brother," cut in Flounder. "You can be his uncle or something."

"Oh no! No, no, no, no! A killer whale is not a pet!" said Sebastian sternly. "He's not meant to be a pet, so you need to put dat boy where he belongs!"

"We can't Sebastian! He'll die out there!" cried Ariel.

"That's right! He doesn't even know how to survive in the wilderness on his own!" added Garret. "Have a heart would you?"

"You won't... you won't tell Daddy about us having a whale would you?" asked Ariel looking at Sebastian with a pleading look.

Sebastian was still stern, but his face softened a little as he could see Ariel and the others looking at him begging. Even Spot wanted to let him stay.

"Please?" the three friends begged.

Sebastian smiled and sighed finally giving in. "What whale?" he asked in response.

Ariel immediately went over to Sebastian and gave him a hug while Flounder and Garret sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you Uncle Sebastian!" said Ariel as she set him down.

"Yeah. Thanks a bunch, Crabby," said Garret.

"Don't you uncle me no Sebastian's!" snapped the crab. "And who are you calling Crabby?!"

Spot then went over to his new uncle looking happy, but Sebastian immediately backed away.

"You stay away. You get back dere," warned Sebastian not wanting anything to do with the baby whale.

Then before Sebastian had a chance to react, Spot had slipped his fin underneath him and with a mighty fling launched the red crab out of the room.

"Thank you, Uncle Sebastian!" called Ariel as a screaming Sebastian disappeared past the door.

"Yeah! We owe you big time, Crabby!" Garret added.

As Sebastian fell back to the floor, he sighed miserably. "If Triton finds out about dis man, I'm crab cakes."


	8. Chapter 8

For the next few days or so, Ariel, Flounder, and Garret took care of Spot like he was a member of their family. It was a bit difficult considering that they had to keep Spot away from the watchful eye of King Triton, but at the same time it was fun taking care of him. Garret even loved playing and caring for Spot. He had seen a lot of killer whales on TV including "Free Willy" and documentaries, but nothing compared with seeing and touching the real thing. It was an amazing and wonderful experience. So much so, that time seemed to fly by and he forgot all about finding clues about how to get back home.

Three months had now flown by and the day of the Spring Celebration had come. Garret was swimming over to the room where Ariel was keeping Spot hoping to see how he was doing before he joined King Triton's family and the others. The celebration was just about to get underway and Garret could hear the music coming from the concert hall.

"Oh boy. I better find Ariel and Flounder and hurry," he said to himself. "Hopefully, those two are with Spot."

When he got into the room and entered it, Garret saw Ariel and Flounder with Spot covering him up with the blanket. Over the course of the past months, Spot had grown quite a bit. He had now grown so big, that Spot couldn't even fit on the bed anymore. The blanket that was used to cover him up last time could now only cover Spot's forehead.

"Come on you guys," said Garret. "The Big Spring Celebration's about to get started and your dad's probably looking for you, Ariel."

"I know, we're coming," said Ariel. Then she fixed the blanket on Spot's head and looked at him lovingly. "There you go Spot. Mama's got to go to an old Spring Celebration, but she'll be back very soon." She then patted Spot on the head and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night baby."

"Yeah right. Some baby," muttered Flounder. "I don't believe how much he's grown in three months."

"Well that's to be expected," said Garret. "Spot is a killer whale. He was bound to grow bigger sooner or later. I only hope that he doesn't cause trouble or be seen."

"Come on Garret! Come on Flounder!" said Ariel as she swam out the door. "We're gonna late!"

Garret and Flounder then followed her out the door and Ariel looked back at Spot one more time before she left and blew him a kiss.

"You be good now," she said. "We'll be back soon."

Spot smiled sadly as he watched as his mother leaving closing the door behind her. He then sighed wishing that he could with his mother and watch the Spring Celebration with her.

* * *

At the concert hall, everyone was gathered there including King Triton and his daughters on the upper level, just as King Triton's seahorse herald appeared on the stage along with various different sea animals with instruments including Sebastian.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" said the seahorse herald. "For the pleasure of your royal highness, King Triton, we present to you the Spring Celebration!"

Fish blasted on their trumpets, while others drummed a snappy beat on their drums. King Triton looked beside him to see that two certain people hadn't shown up yet. He was wondering where he went, but he quickly turned his attention back to the concert. Right then, Ariel and Garret then snuck into their seats without King Triton noticing as the spotlight shone on Sebastian as he began to sing along with three female purple crabs

 _When I was but a schoolboy_  
 _I dreamed I would grow tall_  
 _And man, it made me crabby_  
 _Dat a crab could be so small_

 _With this I tell my teacher_  
 _She say, "But don't you see?_  
 _Each and every creature_  
 _Is exactly how they should be"_

 _She said we all are special_  
 _From jellyfish to king_  
 _We all do different t'ings_  
 _And with that she start to sing_

 _You got ta be you_  
 _I got ta be me_  
 _It's simple but true_  
 _What else could you do?_  
 _Who else could you be?_

 _You got your own style_  
 _Now let it come through_  
 _And remember no matter what_  
 _You got to be you_

Meanwhile, Spot was still sitting in his room feeling bored out of hid mind and missing Ariel and the others. Then he heard the music from the concert hall. He couldn't help but wag his tail to the beat. He loved the music so much, that he completely forgot about Ariel wanting him to stay in the room. He then exited the room and followed where the sound of the music was coming from.

 _Skate fish got to skate_  
 _Stingrays got to sting_  
 _Catfish got to purr_  
 _And Sebastian got to sing_

 _Seahorse have to ride_  
 _Flounder got to play_  
 _And whale he got to make the trouble_  
 _All da livelong day._

Sebastian then looked at Ariel.

 _Ariel, are you listening to what I'm singing?_  
 _Pay attention now._

Ariel could only smile sheepishly as Sebastian continued to sing.

 _So why should you be gloomy_  
 _Dat you're too big or small_  
 _Da sea is very roomy_  
 _And dere's plenty room for us all_

 _You heard my little story_  
 _Now let it be your guide_  
 _Just treat yourself with pride_  
 _You'll be more than satisfied_

Then there was trouble. As Sebastian went on with his song, the platform on the stage began to rise up and Ariel and Garret's paled as they gasped in horror, for the cause of it all was Spot. Ariel covered her face in her hands while Garret gulped as Sebastian continued.

 _You got ta be you_  
 _I got ta be me_  
 _I'll try to be clearer_  
 _Look in da mirror_  
 _What do you see?_

 _You see what I mean_  
 _Now let us review_  
 _Let's see now._  
 _Some may be tiny_  
 _Some got the claws_  
 _Gills may be shiny_  
 _Sharks got de jaws_  
 _Down in da briny_  
 _Dose are da laws_  
 _And that is why we sing_

That was when Spot let out a musical squeal and that made Sebastian finally notice him making him gasp in surprise. He then looked at King Triton who glared at him with stern and angry eyes. Sebastian gulped not sure what to do. He then looked back at Spot with waved at him smiling. Sebastian then decided to roll along with it and resumed singing.

 _You got to be you_  
 _I got to be me_  
 _It's simple but true_  
 _What else could you do?_  
 _Who else could you be?_

 _You got your own style_  
 _Now let it come through_  
 _You got your own voice_  
 _You've got to rejoice_  
 _You got to be you_  
 _Don't be so blue_

At this point, Spot was now having the time of his life. He danced and sang along with Sebastian even doing a nose spin. At the climax, he let out a deep and bellowing wail. The entire concert hall shook and Spot's wail was so long and loud that the structure couldn't take it. It began to crumble and fall apart. Everyone in the concert hall immediately fled including King Triton, his daughters, and Garret as pillars and bits of the roof fell. Bubbles and dust billowed everywhere. When the bubbles and dust cleared, Sebastian looked around to find himself all alone with Spot who was looking at him like a dog with his owner.

Sebastian sighed. "And dat my friends, is what I meant by bringing down da house."

* * *

The very next day, Ariel, Garret, Flounder, as well as Spot were all in in the throne room in with King Triton and Sebastian with the king looking very cross.

"What on earth were you thinking?!" he boomed. "Hiding a whale in the palace!"

"A whale in da palace!" chipped in Sebastian. "Da very idea."

"People could have been killed!"

"Killed!"

"The whole palace destroyed!"

"Destroyed! Da whole palace!"

"We get it Sebastian!" said Garret rolling his eyes. "The king doesn't need an echo, you kiss-up! Geez!"

Sebastian glared at Garret, as Ariel swam forward.

"Spot didn't mean any harm!" she protested. "He just loves music just as much as we do. He was just being happy."

Spot then looked at the king giving him an apologetic smile showing that he was sorry.

King Triton's angry snarl softened. "I don't blame him for his destruction. He's a wild animal. He's not responsible, but you are Ariel, as Flounder and Garret, and even Sebastian." He then looked sternly at the red crab who hid behind the armrest of his throne as he continued. "I know you meant well, but he has to go. He doesn't belong here in the palace."

"But Spot doesn't know how real whales live!" protested Ariel. "He just can't make it in the ocean all by himself. He thinks I'm his mother."

"It's true," added Garret. "And Ariel's taken really good care of him just as a mother should."

"Well, she isn't," said King Triton simply. "And if he can't survive on his own, then you'll just have to teach him how. You, Flounder, Garret, and..." Then King Triton noticed that a certain crab was still hiding from him. "Sebastian, come out of there," he sighed. "And I suppose he thinks that you're his father?"

Sebastian came out of hiding grinning sheepishly. "Eh... more like... his uncle?" he squeaked nervously.

King Triton sighed. "Well... regardless, I'm putting "Uncle" Sebastian in charge. Uncle Sebastian is going to teach this whale how to be what he is "

Sebastian stuck up his chest proudly feeling very important, but that feeling quickly vanished.

"What?! Me?!" he exclaimed.

"Two weeks and then he's out," the king said to Sebastian. "And I'll be holding you personally responsible."

"That's right Crabby," smirked Garret. "And unlike this time, you ain't gonna kiss your way out of this one. You're stuck with us whether you like it or not."

Sebastian could only sigh in resignation as he along the rest of the gang swam out of the palace to get started teaching Spot.

* * *

Outside of Atlantica, the five friends went to the open space of the reef where they first found Spot. They then got started training him. They tried their best to train him on how to act and survive like a the killer whale should, but sadly Spot didn't seem to understand no matter how hard they tried. This made everyone worry.

"My friends, it's time to face facts," said Sebastian. "De boy is not getting it."

"He's just gentle. He doesn't know how to be mean," said Flounder. "I like him the way he is."

"So will da sharks, man!" said Sebastian. "Out dere, it's every fish for himself!"

"Sebastian's right," said Ariel. "If Spot doesn't learn how to defend himself, or he'll die."

"Well then, we might as well try again," sighed Garret. "And we're gonna have to keep trying until Spot understands."

Sebastian then whistled to Spot calling him. "Spot! Here, Spot!"

Spot heard Sebastian and then swam up to them.

"Alright den, dis time Flounder is going to be da shark," Sebastian spoke to Spot. "And you're going ta butt him on de head, and swat him with de tail, just like you always do ta me." He then turned to Flounder who was a few feet away from him. "Are you ready dere, Flounder?" he called.

"Ready, Sebastian!" Flounder called back.

"Now remember, Spot," whispered Ariel to the baby. "Flounder's just a pretend shark. You be gentle."

"Ariel, quit coddling him," chided Garret. "He's never gonna learn if you keep babying him like that."

Then Sebastian gave the signal.

"CHARGE!" he yelled.

Flounder then sharpened his fins and barred his teeth trying to be as intimidating and fearsome like a shark as much as he could. "Here he come, he terror of the deep, Flounder the tiger shark!" he growled.

Considering that Flounder was pretending to be a tiger shark, and the fact that he was a tropical fish, he wasn't all that scary and couldn't scare anyone. Everyone that was except for Spot. When Spot saw Flounder, he tried his best to be brave, but in the end he became frightened and immediately swam away kicking up dust and pebbles everywhere.

"Spot?! Spot, come back!" called Ariel.

But it was no use. Spot had raced into the distance and was gone.

"Was I too scary?" asked Flounder.

"I don't know, Flounder," sighed Ariel. "I don't know he's ever going to understand."

Sebastian shook the dust off of his eyes and sighed. "Much more of dis ting man, and I'm going back to de island. Get work in da steel band."

"Come on guys, we can't quit now," said Garret. "We still have plenty of time to teach Spot. It's like I've been saying before, we have to keep trying." He looked at Ariel. "Didn't a certain someone say that it takes practice?"

Ariel looked at Garret. "Well... that was when I as teaching you how to swim," she said. "That was one thing, but this is different."

"And take a look at me," said Garret. "I'm swimming around like a normal merman after not knowing anything about swimming like a merman at all. I didn't even know how to use this thing. You shouldn't give up. Keep trying and I'm sure Spot will pick up fending for himself in no time."

Ariel then gave Garret small smile. "You're right. Let's keep trying," she said. "And thanks Garret."

Garret smiled. "Anytime. Now let's find that whale."

* * *

The group continued training Spot all day, but Spot still wasn't able to learn. Eventually, it was soon dark and it was time for them to head back to the palace. Everyone felt tired and exhausted.

"Man... what a day," sighed Garret.

Spot let out an groan in agreement. It would seem that the day had worn him out too. Ariel then gave him a reassuring pat.

"I'll say. Even poor Spot's tired out," she said. "Don't worry Spot, we'll be home in just a minute."

"Oh no, no, no, no!" injected Sebastian. "One ting's for sure anyway, from now on, Spot's staying outside at night."

"No!" cried Ariel indignantly.

"Yes! Your daddy put me in charge Ariel," said Sebastian sternly. "I'm telling you, it's the best ting for everybody."

"Please Sebastian," begged Ariel. "Tomorrow, I promise!"

Sebastian was not standing for it. "No! How you going ta teach him how to live in de sea if he still thinks he's a baby?" he said firmly. "Whales sleep outdoors and dat's final!"

And with that Sebastian swam away leaving Flounder, Ariel, and Garret feeling worried and a little upset.

* * *

Later that night, Garret was lying in his bed in the room where he was staying in Atlantica, but he couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about Spot. He knew that it was for the best for him to sleep outside, but it still worried him about how he would fare sleeping all alone. As he rolled to his back staring up at the ceiling, he continued to think about Spot which made him let out a sigh.

"Oh man, I know I shouldn't be... but... I can't help but be worried about the guy," he said to himself.

Then he heard. It was the sound of a familiar wail. The moment he heard it, he knew exactly what was the cause of it. He tried to ignore it, but the sound ate and ate away at him until he couldn't take it anymore. He got out of bed and swam out of the room heading down the halls trying to be as quiet as he could. As he swam around the corner, he slowly peeped out making sure that no one saw him. He was just about to swim on, when he saw a certain a crab swimming just ahead of him. Garret was surprised, but also very amused to see him.

"Guess I'm not the only one," Garret said to himself. "Looks like Crabby's worried too."

He then was about to catch up with Sebastian when he bumped into someone causing him to jump. Garret soon found that it was Ariel along with Flounder that he bumped into.

"Garret, it's you!" gasped Ariel. "What are you doing here?"

"The same reason as you and Flounder, Ariel," said Garret. "And it seems we're not the only ones that are worried."

"What do you mean?" asked Flounder.

"Take a look," smiled Garret as he pointed ahead.

Ariel and Flounder looked and they saw Sebastian swimming ahead of them.

"Is that Sebastian over there?" asked Flounder with surprise.

"Who else would it be?" chuckled Ariel.

Sebastian swam outside looking around wanting to make sure that no one saw him, especially Ariel and the others. If he got caught, there was no doubt that Ariel and the others would never let him live it down. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He immediately let out a high pitched shriek and immediately turned around and to his horror, there were Ariel, Flounder, and Garret all wearing amused expressions.

"Ariel! Flounder! Garret! F-fancy seeing you kids here," he said smiling nervously.

"And what are you doing here, Sebastian?" asked Ariel teasingly.

Sebastian stammered. "Well... uh... I was... just going out for a midnight stroll," he said. "Yeah! I was having trouble falling asleep and I figured I would go for a midnight stroll."

"Yeah, you really expect us to believe that, Crabby?" Garret asked smugly. "Admit it, you're worried about Spot."

"No I'm not!" insisted Sebastian. "And stop calling me dat boy!"

Ariel giggled. "Well alright then," said Ariel. "You can go on your midnight stroll while Flounder, Garret, and I go sleep with Spot."

"What?! You can't do dat!" said Sebastian indignantly.

"Why not? We're just going to sleep with Spot," said Garret smirking. "You said Spot had to sleep outside, but you didn't say anything about us sleeping outside."

"But-" protested Sebastian.

But Ariel, Garret, and Flounder had already swam out of the palace heading outside. Sebastian was about to call to them to stop, but he remembered that everyone was asleep.

"Oh brother. Why do I have to do deal with all these crazy kids?" he sighed as he followed the three.

* * *

Outside of the city, Spot was all alone trying his best to fall asleep, but he couldn't. He missed his mother Ariel, his two brothers Garret and Flounder, and even his Uncle Sebastian. But he knew that his Uncle Sebastian wanted him to stay outside because he was no longer allowed to sleep in the palace. All he could do was try to endure until the next time he saw them. He sadly went sleep.

Unknown to him, Ariel, Garret, Flounder, and Sebastian all snuck up beside him and snuggled up with him. Ariel and Garret slept on Spot like his was a pillow while Flounder and Sebastian slept under each one of his large fins. Soon enough, the happy family was fast asleep. However, unknown to them at the time, the shark that Spot previously encountered before was sneaking around in the darkness. This time, it had two companions. They may have had no luck, so far but they would find prey very soon. It was only a matter of time.


	9. Chapter 9

The very next morning, Garret awoke to the rays of the sun shining down on his face and the sound of growling. He sleepily opened his eyes and sat up looking around wondering what the sound was or where it was coming from. He looked beside him to find that Sebastian who was sleeping next to him was also awake. He then looked ahead and saw what was making the noise.

Ariel along with Flounder was still trying her best to teach Spot how to be fierce like the killer whale he was. She was doing a demonstration of being fierce by making a face and growling like some kind of creature to try and get Spot to understand.

"You see Spot? Just like that," said Ariel. "Now you try."

Spot looked at Ariel curiously still not understanding what she was trying to teach him. Ariel sighed as she sank to her fins having to have lost all hope for Spot. Garret and Sebastian looked at each other and then swam over to Ariel and Flounder.

"Still not understanding huh?" asked Garret.

Ariel shook her head sadly. "He's never gonna get it, is he?"

"He loves you Ariel," said Sebastian. "He's got dat part down just fine."

"But he shouldn't. He needs to be wild. He can't live in the sea if he isn't wild," lamented Ariel hanging her head. "You were right, Sebastian. I should have never, never have taken him home."

"Ariel, come on. You don't mean that," said Garret disapprovingly.

"Yes I do," said Ariel.

Garret could see how sad Ariel was and felt sorry for her. He wanted to help her teach Spot, but if she couldn't teach him, there was a high possibility that he couldn't either. The best thing he could think of to do at the moment was to try and ease Ariel's sadness. He then sat next to her.

"Look Ariel, you did a good thing by bringing Spot to Atlantica," he said. "In fact, if it wasn't for you, Spot would have been a goner a long time ago."

"Really?" asked Ariel.

"Of course," said Garret. "Sure it was a bit crazy and we were all against it, but your heart was in the right place. Spot was all alone when we found him and scared stiff of everything, but you showed him kindness and love and in return taught Spot how to be kind back. I'd say that's a feat in of itself."

"That's right," said Flounder. "I personally thought Spot was going to eat us, but now he's the best baby brother I've ever had."

"And I hate ta admit it," added Sebastian. "But even I've grown fond of da boy. He may be a killer whale, but he's a good kid. Although I wish he'd stop launching me."

"You see? Even Crabby agrees," said Garret. "We will find a solution for this. We will make Spot understand what it means to be wild. Heck, he probably already knows how to be wild. He just hasn't realized it yet. Not to mention its only been one day. You brought Spot into our lives and treated him like one of the family. And as a family, we can't quit on him. You are his mother after all."

Ariel looked at Garret, Flounder, and Sebastian and then at Spot who smiled at Ariel giving her a loving nuzzle. She then smiled.

"Thanks you guys," she said. "You're right. We can't give up. We'll keep on trying until we make Spot-"

Suddenly, a school of fish shot right past them like a storm of arrows kicking up bubbles and dust.

"What the heck was that about?" asked Garret.

"I don't know," said Flounder.

Ariel then looked to the distance towards the darker waters where the fish came from. Garret then came up next to her.

"Ariel? What is it?" asked Garret. "Is something wrong?"

Ariel didn't answer. She continued to stare in the distance as if she was waiting to confirm something. Garret then looked too. When he did, he saw three strange and large creatures coming toward them. At first, Garret couldn't make out what they were and then... his eyes widened in horror, his face turned white as a sheet, he couldn't speak or breathe, and his heart practically stopped beating in his chest.

As much as he wished they weren't, there was no denying what creatures were coming. He had seen these creatures many times back at home whether be from a book or a TV, but he hoped that he would never run into this animal in real life.

The creatures soon could be seen. They all were big, had dark grey skin with white bellies, had red piercing eyes with yellow scleras, had curved fins and most of all, white razor sharp teeth.

As soon as Garret could see them clearly, his screamed at the top of his lungs.

"SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAARKS!"

"Swim you for it guys!" yelled Ariel

"De reef! Make for de reef!" cried Sebastian as he was immediately scooped up by Ariel who took off swimming as fast as her fins could carry her.

Everyone immediately scattered in different directions. Garret went one way, Ariel carrying Sebastian went another way, Spot swam in another direction, and Flounder another way. The sharks also split up as well; one going after Garret, another after Flounder, and the third after Ariel and Sebastian.

* * *

Flounder swam as fast as his little fins could carry him in another part of the area, but the shark was hot on his heels snapping his jaws trying to take a bite out of his tail. Flounder screamed in terror as he dodged one snap after another. The shark grew closer and closer and was about to eat Flounder with a single chomp, but luckily a ledge was there causing Flounder to swim up making the shark hit the rock. The shark may be known one of the top predators for its teeth, but not even its teeth could chomp through rock.

The shark was temporarily stunned making Flounder seize his chance. He swam deeper and deeper into the trench trying to get further and further away from the shark.

Then there was trouble.

In his haste of getting away, Flounder accidentally swam into a bush of seaweed and ended up getting tangled into its leaves.

To make things worse, the shark was starting to regain his composure and soon enough, it would see him and go for the kill.

"ARIEL!"

* * *

Garret was swimming as fast as his fins could pump as another shark chased him. He was scared... no he was terrified of what was chasing him. He kept on swimming desperately trying to get get away. The shark snapped his jaws trying to get a bite out of Garret's tail.

Garret was terrified and desperately willed his fins to make him go as fast as he wanted to go, but his speed was no match for the shark's. If he didn't do something quick, he would get caught and would be mincemeat.

He swam around randomly hoping to get the shark off of his tail, but the shark stayed on him.

Garret zig-zagged, swerved, and desperately tried to shake the shark off, but the shark was able to stay on him.

Soon Garret came to the rock formation with a hole where he and the others first found Spot. This gave Garret an idea. It was a long shot, but he didn't care as long as he could do something to slow the shark down. He swam through the hole which was big enough for him, but not for the shark. The shark tried to swim through the hole, but due to his large size, it ended up getting stuck. It thrashed about struggling to get free.

Garret then took off swimming glad that he is idea worked, but was desperate to get as far away as possible. Then he heard a voice in the distance.

"ARIEL!"

Garret immediately knew who that was. "That's gotta be Flounder!" he thought.

He was about to swim away, but then he hesitated. Was this really the best idea? I mean he was going up against three sharks and he was feeling terrified for going up against them. On the other hand, Flounder was in danger and someone needed to help him. Then Garret noticed that the shark was gradually starting to break free from the rock which mean that had to get out of there before it got free and resumed chasing him. Garret then swam away following the sound of Flounder's scream.

* * *

Meanwhile, Spot was still swimming away fearful that the sharks were chasing him. When he knew that the sharks weren't chasing him anyone, he let out a shaky breath feeling relieved that he got away. Then heard a scream that echoed throughout the area.

"ARIEL!"

This made Spot stop swimming and look back. He knew exactly who made that scream. It was his little brother Flounder! His relief then turned into worry and guilt. He was still scared because of those terrifying sharks and didn't know what to do, but at the same time, he felt guilty for being such a coward. He knew that his brother was in danger and needed help.

Spot took a deep breath and plucked up courage and then swam swiftly back to where Ariel and the rest of his family were hoping that they would be alright.

* * *

Ariel was swimming as fast as she could trying to shake off the second shark while carrying Sebastian in her arm. Then she suddenly heard Flounder scream.

"ARIEL!"

"Oh no! Flounder!" she cried as she immediately changed direction heading straight to where she heard his voice which was coming for the lower levels of the reef. She then saw Flounder who was tangled in the seaweed and the shark that was closing in on him. Ariel immediately swam down desperately trying to get to Flounder before the shark went for the kill. But as fast as she was, there was no way she would make it in time.

Then suddenly from out of nowhere and another direction, someone swam towards Flounder and scooped him out of the bush from harm's way just in time with the shark still after him. It was Garret! Not only that, but as he swam by, the shark that was chasing him collided with the shark that was targeting Flounder stunning them both. The third shark which was still chasing Ariel and Sebastian still pursued them snapping his jaws trying to bite his prey.

At the same time, Spot had arrived on the scene and what he saw made his eyes go wide. He could see the other two sharks who had recovered from the collision resume chasing his family while the first was hot on Ariel and Garret's fins. When he saw the shark snapping at their fins with its sharp teeth and heard Flounder crying in terror, something snapped inside of him.

Then for the first time ever, Spot became an angry and raging killer whale. He growled barring his teeth as he immediately swam after them on a mission to save his family. There was no way those mean old sharks were going to make a meal out of his family! Not if he had anything to say about it!

Ariel and the others soon came to a large structure which had the appearance of a gigantic shell.

"Head for the shell!" cried Ariel.

Garret and Flounder did so. But as they reached the entrance to the shell, they looked inside. The inside was filled with various different holes and walls and it seemed to be narrow, but the structure itself looked like it wouldn't be enough hold back the sharks. It didn't appear to be the best place to hide from the sharks, but it was the only option they had.

The four of them immediately swam into the shell. The sharks continued at their current speed smashing through right through the shell's walls causing the entrance of the shell to collapse.

Not far away, Spot was right behind them, but he immediately stopped when he got to the entrance which was now filled with jagged broken pieces of the shell blocking his way.

Spot knew that it was too dangerous to swim through. He had to find another way to get inside. Spot looked around trying to see of there were any openings. Then he saw it. All the way on the other side and topside of the shell, there was a small hole. Spot also knew that was where Ariel and the others would end up. Knowing just what to do, Spot then shot towards the top of the shell as fast as tail could pump, determined to save his family.

Ariel and company swam deeper and deeper into the shell. They soon came to a wall with a narrow hole. It was a bit small, but it was enough for Ariel and the others to swim through.

Flounder swam through first, then Sebastian, and then Garret. Ariel was just about to, but then she suddenly realized something.

"Wait a second!" she cried. "Where's Spot?!"

"I don't know, but you better get over here quick!" yelled Garret. "Otherwise-"

He was then interrupted with a mighty crash and a smash. The four of them looked back and gasped in horror for the three sharks were smashing right though the walls of the shell getting closer and closer to them. Ariel immediately swam through, but her hips were so wide, that she got a little stuck in the hole. Seeing that Ariel was in trouble, Garret immediately grabbed a hold of Ariel's hands and pulled her through just as the sharks came chopping getting stuck in the holes due to their large size. For the moment, the four were safe, but the wall wouldn't hold much longer.

Then they saw an opening that led outside, but to their horror, the holes were too narrow to any of them to fit through. It was then that Ariel and the others realized that they were trapped. Everyone was now fearful having to have no where else to go.

Garret desperately tried to think of a way out of this situation, but he was too scared and panicky to think of anything. He wanted out of this horrible situation. He wanted out of this hell. Most of all, he didn't want to die. Not like this.

Then the sharks finally broke through and Garret shut his eyes waiting for the end and Ariel instinctively shielded Garret, Flounder, and Sebastian by putting her body between them and the sharks.

Just when they thought that all would be lost, there was a ferocious growl and something burst through the opening making the sharks immediately stop. Ariel and Garret looked and could not believe their eyes for Spot had burst through coming to their rescue.

Spot growled fiercely at the sharks and tackled straight into them using his superior strength to break through the wall of the shell, forcing them outside.

Garret's jaw dropped with surprise as did Ariel and the others and they looked through the hole in amazement.

The sharks were temporarily stunned from Spot's assault, but they managed to regain their composure. And they were not happy having to have been rudely interrupted by this perpetrator.

One of the sharks snapped its jaws and made a beeline right for Spot wanting to make him pay, but Spot growled not backing down. With a mighty swing of his tail, Spot smacked the shark right in the snout stunning him and gave him another smack sending him flying.

The second then came at Spot hoping to catch him off guard with a sneak attack, but Spot seeing it coming used his tail again smacking the shark and making it all turned around. Feeling confused and a bit frightened, the brute desperately tried to swim away, but Spot immediately clamped onto its tail using his teeth as he spun him around and around eventually letting go and sending that shark flying too.

The last shark wanting to avenge his comrades came right at Spot with its teeth barred, but Spot gave it a wicked headbutt upwards sending the beast flying up. When it came back down and was close enough, Spot landed the final blow by giving the last shark one more mighty whip of his tail sending it flying as well.

All three of the sharks flew in the water until all three slammed right into a cliff. Feeling battered, dazed, and beaten up, the three shark fell until they landed into an old wooden boat. Being unable to take their weight, the boat skidded down the cliff and disappeared into the abyss below never to be seen again.

After a few seconds of realizing what had just happened, Ariel and the others cheered.

"He did it! He did it! He saved us!" cheered Ariel.

"Dat's my nephew man!" whooped Sebastian.

"Little Spot! My baby brother!" said Flounder proudly.

Garret was still shaking from fright, but that fearful shaking changed into shaking with excitement. "Ha ha! Way to go, Spot! I knew you had it in you!" he yelled happily.

Spot then swam over to his family feeling very proud of himself as Ariel wrapped her arms around his nose and Garret gave him a pat on his head.

"Thank you so much, Spot," said Ariel. "You saved all of our lives. My father would have to let you stay now."

Then they all heard a strange sound. The sound of wailing just like his. Spot upon hearing that sound, turned around wondering what that sound was as did Ariel and company.

"What is it, Spot?" asked Ariel.

"I think... that's Spot's family, Ariel," said Garret.

Sure enough, a great distance away from them, a large pod of whales was breaching in the distance. Upon seeing them, Spot's face brightened with joy and he immediately swam towards his pod.

Garret looked at Ariel expecting her to stop him from leaving, but she didn't. She watched sadly as Spot swam further and further away.

"You're not going to stop him?" he asked.

"No. He's... going home," said Ariel trying her best not to be sad. "It's right for him to go."

"I suppose so," said Garret as he looked back at Spot swimming with his pod also feeling a little sad. "I guess that we should get home too."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna miss de little nipper," mused Sebastian.

The four then started to swim back to Atlantica feeling sad that Spot was now gone, but then there was a loud familiar wail. The four looked back to see that Spot was coming towards them.

Ariel's face immediately brightened and she swam to Spot meeting him halfway.

"Oh Spot, you came back! You came back!" said Ariel joyfully thinking that Spot wanted to stay with her.

But Garret knew that wasn't the reason Spot came back to her. He could tell from the sad smile on Spot's face and Ariel could see this too.

"Ariel... I think Spot came here to say goodbye," he said slowly.

"Is that it, Spot?" asked Ariel.

Spot gave a sad squeal and nodded his head. Ariel felt sad once again, but she knew that this was for the best.

"I understand, Spot," she said petting his nose. "You're a real whale now, but... you're not my whale anymore. Go home Spot. I'll miss you."

"Goodbye Spot. You were a good baby brother," sniffed Flounder who was trying his best not to cry.

"It was fun while it lasted," said Garret hugging Spot's nose. "And we may have had a short time together, but you'll always be a good friend to us, Spot."

"Well Spot, you take care man," said Sebastian surprisingly chipper. "It's been a pleasure knowing you. Well... most of de time anyway. Don't forget to write!"

Spot then looked at Sebastian and then before Sebastian had a chance to react, he was bouncing on top of his nose like he was a ball.

Sebastian was frantic knowing what was coming next. "No! Spot! Stop! Don't do it!" he shrieked.

But it was too late. Spot had bounced Sebastian onto his tail and flung him sending him rocketing upwards. Sebastian was launched so high that he practically shot out of the water past the surface. As Sebastian came back down, Ariel managed to catch him in her hands.

Then with a wave of his flipper and a goodbye grunt, Spot then swam back with his pod having to have finally been reunited with his family. Ariel and the others waved goodbye until Spot and his pod were out of sight.

"Well, there he goes..." said Garret smiling sadly. "It's amazing how they grow up so fast huh?"

"Yeah. Well... at least now Spot's back with his family and he'll be able to fend for himself," said Ariel. "Well then, what do you say we get back home and tell Daddy about what happened?"

"I agree," said Sebastian. "He'll be pleased ta hear about dis man."

And with that, Ariel and the others swam back to Atlantica eager to tell King Triton the good news.

* * *

Soon they all returned to Atlantica safe and sound. Ariel and the others swam towards the palace hoping to speak to King Triton about Spot. Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian were eager, but Garret on the other hand felt exhausted, so much in fact that he was a little behind with Ariel and the others.

"What's wrong Garret?" asked Flounder. "You feeling sick or something?"

"Not really," panted Garret. "I'm just a little tired that's all. With all the surprises we just experienced, I guess all that adrenaline wore me out."

"I don't blame you man," said Sebastian. "Anyone would feel rather exhausted after narrowly escaping from a shark attack."

"Do you want to go take a rest in your room?" asked Ariel.

"That would be nice," said Garret. "Sorry about this guys, but you go tell King Triton about Spot without me. Honestly, I had enough thrills for one day."

"Alright then," said Ariel. "Make sure you rest up then, Garret. We'll see you in a bit."

Then Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder swam to the throne room while Garret headed to his room. Needless to say, him feeling tired was an understatement. He looked at his hands and saw that they were still shaking slightly. He could still remember those sharks and how terrifying they looked. If Spot hadn't shown up when he did, he and the others would have surely been in trouble.

"Spot may have been able to save us, but still... I shudder to think what would have happened if he didn't show," he said to himself. "One thing's for sure, I never wanna see another shark in my life."

He then thought about Spot and how happy he was having to be reunited with his family. It made him happy for him, but at the same time, made him slightly jealous.

"I wish I could see my family right now," he thought to himself. "I really miss my family too."

Garret then began thinking about his mom, his dad, and even his little sister Lucy. He really missed them quite a lot and longed to see them again.

"Mom... Dad... Lucy..." he thought to himself. "I really miss you guys... I'd give anything to see you all again... but... I don't know how to."

Soon enough, Garret came to the door of his room. He was just about to open the door and go inside when he heard a strange sound. It was the sound of strange singing. At first, he didn't know what they sound was, but then his eyes widened.

"Wait a second," he said. "I know that sound! That's the singing I heard before I came into this world!"

He immediately darted down the halls of the palace trying to find where the singing was coming from. But as he swam searching for the source of the singing, he could hear the singing grow fainter and fainter meaning that he was getting further away. Garret looked around trying to find out where else it was coming from. Then he looked up and swam up the ceiling. He could hear the singing coming from above him.

"It sounds like it's coming from the upper levels," he thought.

He then swam outside of the palace and headed upwards towards to the top of the palace. As he swam, the singing grew louder and louder meaning he was growing closer and closer.

He soon reached where the singing was coming from. The Royal Treasury. Garret then went inside and the singing was now very loud meaning that it was coming from somewhere in the treasury. He looked around searching through all the king's treasures hoping to find the source. But he didn't see anything special or out of the ordinary. Not only that, but the singing had stopped.

"Oh no! I can't hear it anymore," said Garret. "Now what'll I do?"

He looked around the treasury trying to find anything strange or something that could give him a clue, but sadly he couldn't find anything. He felt a little disappointed.

"Darn it. I lost the voice," he said. "And here I was hoping I'd find a way to get home. But... I guess I must have been hearing things."

Garret sadly began to swim out of the treasury. As he did and without knowing, he swam right past a mirror which looked a little similar to the one at his house. It was gold and had a teal gem on top.

Then suddenly, the teal gem on the mirror began to glow causing Garret to stop and look back while shielding his eyes.

"What the heck?!" cried Garret.

Then suddenly, a huge torrent of bubbles erupted from the mirror and shot straight at Garret. Garret was about to swim away, but the torrent of bubbles immediately surrounded him making a ring. The bubbles swirled around and around encasing Garret in a dome of bubbles. Garret then felt something like a magnetic pull draw him towards the mirror.

"Oh no! Not again!" yelled Garret.

Then bubbles suddenly made Garret shoot forward heading right towards the mirror. Garret flinched thinking that he would crash into it, but instead, he was sucked right into the mirror vanishing from existence.


	10. Chapter 10

Back in the real world, morning had come. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Tom and Charlotte were already out going about their daily routine making breakfast and getting ready for work. Lucy was brushing her teeth getting ready for school.

As she brushed them, she heard her mother calling out to her.

"Lucy! Could you wake up your brother and tell him to get ready for school?"

"Sure thing Mom!" called Lucy as she spit. She then rinsed her mouth and then headed towards Garret's room.

In the attic, everything was quiet there as well as well as the room in the other room. The only thing that was in there was a small mouse who was exploring the attic searching for food. As it searched through the attic, it happened to come across the room where the mirror was. The mouse sniffed around trying to find anything to eat.

Then it noticed something. A large strange object met it's eyes. It was a long and strange item that also had a parabolic shape on the end.

This was Garret's flashlight from which he dropped before he got sucked into the mirror. The mouse sniffed the flashlight curiously trying to figure out what this strange item was.

Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light coming from above. The mouse immediately snapped its head towards the direction of the light now alert. The light from the mirror grew brighter and brighter and the surface of it became wet and murky.

Then a huge tendril of water gushed forth from the mirror causing the mouse to immediately dart away feeling frightened. The rope of water fully emerged from the mirror and then began to spin around and around until it became a dome.

As the dome formed, Garret emerged from the mirror and feel onto the floor in a heap. Then the dome of water turned back into a rope of water and then went back into the mirror.

The light coming from the gem disappeared and the surface of the mirror returned to normal.

It didn't take long for Garret to regain conscious. He groaned as he sat up.

"Oh... man. What happened?" he wondered. "Where am I?"

He then looked at his surroundings realizing that he was in a dusty old room. Then his eyes widened.

"Wait a minute... I know this place!" said Garret. "This is my attic!"

That wasn't the only thing he'd noticed. Garret happened to look down at his legs and saw a startling yet wonderful sight. The lower half of his body was no longer a merman's tail. Instead, there was his normal humans legs encased in a pair of the same black shorts he wore to bed.

"My... my legs... they're back!" murmured Garret as he felt his legs to confirm if they were real. "I got my legs back...! But... then that means..."

Garret immediately got up on his feet and he almost cried tears of joy. He knew exactly where he was.

"I'm home!" he cried. "I'm home! I'm back home in my own world!"

He let out a whoop of joy and then bolted out of the room. He climbed down on the ladder and darted straight into his room. His room was definitely a sight for sore eyes. His bed, his posters, his books, everything was still where it should be. Then Lucy came in.

"Hey bro," she said. "Mom said to get up and get ready for school."

As soon as Garret saw her, his eyes began to well with tears making Lucy a little surprised.

"G-garret? What's the matter?" she asked. "Why... are you crying?"

"Lucy!" cried Garret as he embraced his sister in a tight hug. "I missed you so much! I know you tease me all the time and you probably hate my guts at time, but I missed you so much!"

Lucy was so surprised that she didn't know how to react, especially seeing her big brother bare-chested and slightly wet. "H-hey!" she yelped. "Let me go weirdo! You're being weird!"

"What's going on here kids?" asked a woman's voice from behind. "Is everything OK?"

Garret immediately turned around and there standing in front of the doorway was his mother. As soon as he saw her, Garret didn't hesitate. He immediately let go of Lucy and hugged his mother tightly.

"MOM!" he cried as he buried his face in her chest. "I missed you so much!"

Charlotte felt very confused, but she embraced her son gently patting him on his head.

"What's the matter, Garret?" she asked gently. "Why are you all wet and have no shirt on?"

"Mom... I'm missed you...!" continued Garret and his embrace tightening around his mom. "I missed you so much...! I thought I was going to die and never see you again!"

"I... beg your pardon, son?" asked Charlotte with confusion.

"OK nimrod, you're definitely acting stranger than usual," said Lucy. "I think you've gone a little cuckoo in the head."

Then Tom came into the room. "What's the matter everyone?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Garret upon seeing his father made him release his mother and hugged him tightly not letting go of him.

Tom was surprised. "G-garret?! What's the matter with you son?" he asked.

"Dad! I was so scared...!" cried Garret. "The mirror...! Talking fish...! Sharks...! Almost dying...!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy Garret, easy," said Tom soothingly. "It's alright, son. Just calm down."

"What is going on with him, Dad?" asked Lucy. "Even I could tell that he's acting weirder than usual!"

Tom shook his head. "Don't worry, Lucy," he said. "Just focus on going to school for now." He then looked at his wife. "Charlotte? Would you mind taking Lucy to school?"

"Are you sure, honey?" asked Charlotte. "What about Garret? He's gonna be late for school."

"It's fine hun," said Tom smiling. "Besides, Garret's gonna stay home today. He's... a little under the weather. I'll stay with him."

Charlotte still wasn't sure, but she trusted her husband. "Alright then," she said. "Let's go Lucy. I'll take you to school."

Lucy then trotted after her mother as the two of them left the room leaving Garret and Tom by themselves.

"It's alright Garret," said Tom. "We're alone now."

Garret finally let go of his father and then took a few deep breaths getting his breathing in order.

"Have you finally calmed down, son?" asked Tom.

"I guess so," said Garret. He looked up at his father in a scowl. "But... I've got a lot of questions and things to say to you Dad."

"I understand," said Tom. "But first, why don't you go and take a shower while I make you breakfast? We got a lot to talk about after all."

Garret was about to decline wanting to talk about this now, but then he had a thought. It had been a while since he had to take a shower. Not to mention he was actually getting real food instead of eating all that Atlantian food.

"Alright Dad," he said. "I'll take that shower... but I expect you to explain everything to me when I'm done."

"No worries, son," said Tom. "You have my word."

Garret and Tom then left Garret's room. Garret headed for the bathroom while his father went downstairs. Garret walked into the bathroom and took a first-time-in-a-while shower. After that, he got dressed and then headed downstairs walking into the kitchen.

As soon as he stepped in, a familiar and delicious smell wafted into his nostrils. It was the smell of bacon and eggs. Upon recognizing that scent, Garret's stomach let out a loud growl which Tom happened to hear.

"Well, well," he chuckled. "Sounds like someone's hungry."

Soon Garret and his dad were sitting at the table eating their breakfast. Garret furiously inhaled the food savoring each and every bite.

"Take it easy, son," chuckled Tom. "Your food's not going anywhere."

"Cafft heff fit!" said Garret with a mouthful of eggs. "Haffnt eaffen fin fa while!"

Garret kept on eating as fast as he could until his plate was empty. Garret leaned back in his chair and let out a contented sigh and burp.

"Man... that was good," he said. "Nothing compares to the taste of eggs and bacon."

"Glad you enjoyed it," said Tom as he sat down at the table. "So... I take it you want to talk about what you experienced?"

Garret looked at his father and suddenly remembered. "Y-yes I do."

"Alright then," said Tom how wearing a neutral expression. "First off, tell me everything that you experienced until you came back here."

Garret took a deep breath and then told his father everything that he went through until he came back home.

"OK, there was this singing sound I heard and then I followed it all the way up to the mirror you showed me up at the attic which was the source of it all. Then gem thing on top of the mirror began to glow and the surface turned into water and stuff and then I was sucked inside it. Then I when when I woke up, I saw that my legs turned into fins and then I met an actual mermaid and a talking fish and a crab! Then I was checked once over by some strange doctor octopus, not the marvel superhero, he checked me and said I was healthy and then I met the mermaid's father and then he let me stay over at this palace which was in this place Atlantica which was filled with other mermaids and other talking sea creatures. Then there was this baby whale who we named Spot and then we took him home and raised him for about three months I think. Anyway, Spot grew to a full size killer whale and we tried to keep him hidden, but the king found out and we had to show him how to be a real killer whale and stuff. Then we were attacked by sharks and one almost got me but I managed to get away and then we hid inside this giant shell thing and we ended up being trapped and I thought we were gonna die, but then Spot came zooming in out of nowhere and then beat up all the sharks saving out lives. And then all of a sudden, Spot's pod came along and we had to let him go and then we headed home. I was going to go back to the room I was staying, but then I heard the singing noise again and then I followed it to the king's treasury and then there was this glowing again and some bubbles and then I was sucked inside and now here I was back home again."

Tom stared at Garret having to understood everything he said even though he was talking at who knows how many miles per hour. Then he burst out laughing holding his sides.

"Hey! What's so funny?!" demanded Garret angrily.

"I'm sorry, son," chuckled Tom wiping his eyes. "But I couldn't help it. You were speaking so fast that you were like a cartoon character."

"Well can you blame me?!" exclaimed Garret. "I almost got killed by a pack of sharks and I've been gone for like three months!"

"Three months? Is that how long you were gone?" wondered Tom.

"Yes! Didn't you notice me missing?!" asked Garret. "Surely, you would have noticed that I was gone!"

"Actually, I didn't," said Tom simply. "You were probably gone for more than three hours at most."

Garret's eyes widened. "Three hours?!" he exclaimed sitting up from the table. "How the heck do you know that?! You got some explaining to do, Dad!"

"Whoa. Take it easy Garret," said Tom. "I'm just about to explain it right now, so try to calm down a little."

Garret growled in frustration, but he did as his father said and sat back down. After a brief pause, Tom took a deep breath and then looked at Garret with a serious look in his eyes.

"All right then. Where shall I begin?" Tom murmured to himself. He pondered for a moment. Then he spoke. "Alright. First and foremost, that mirror I showed you is a special one. If it wasn't obvious enough, it serves as a window to an alternative world. A world that's vastly different than our own."

"That much was obvious," said Garret. "But what I wanna know is where did you get it, how long have you had that thing, and why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Well... firstly, my grandmother gave me that mirror quite some time ago," said Tom. "I would have to assume its been passed down from generation to generation. I've had it... probably since I was a child. I've also discovered its powers and I've been using it whenever I needed to get away from it all. Also, I didn't tell you what it could do because you never would have believed me if I told you. I didn't even believe my mother when she told me about it.

"Grandma knows about it too?" Garret gasped his eyes widening. "Wait... do Mom or Lucy know about the mirror?"

"Well... I'm pretty sure your mother doesn't know about it yet," said Tom. "And Lucy... well I'm not sure if I can trust her with it."

"So... why trust me?" asked Garret.

"There's a lot of reasons," replied Tom. "But mostly because of... well... what happened to you before. You know, back with... you-know-who."

Garret then suddenly remembered and knew what his father was talking about.

"You're... referring to Casey huh?"

Tom nodded. "Yes. I never meant to frighten you or anything like that, so I do apologize," he said. "I just wanted to give you an opportunity to make friends and actually believe in happy endings again. Not to mention, give you a whole new experience."

"But Dad... I... you didn't have to do that," sighed Garret. "I mean... it's my fault about my situation with Casey and I told myself that I'd be better off alone. But... I guess I shouldn't be saying that now... considering that I accidentally made some friends anyway."

Tom then immediately looked at Garret surprised. "You did?! Who?! Tell me!" he said excitedly. " And tell me everything that happened while you were over there!"

Garret was a little put off by his father's excitement, but he began telling his father all about his adventure back in Atlantica. How he met Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian, and even King Triton and her sisters; and even told how he helped take care of Spot and how he saved all of their lives from the trio of sharks.

When he finished, Tom stared at Garret with amazement and some slight amusement. "My, my Garret. You've had yourself quite the adventure," he said. "Although... I do have one concern."

Garret raised a brow. "What... do you mean by concern?"

"About King Triton. You said that you were staying with him along with his daughters correct?" asked Tom.

"Yes. Do you know him?" wondered Garret.

"I do. I've known him for while since I was about your age," said Tom. "Although that was a quite some time ago. Back then, he was a young man who had recently been married to a young merwoman named Athena and she had just given birth to her fourth daughter, Aquata."

"Really?! How long ago was that?!" exclaimed Garret. "And how old are you?!"

"Not that long," said Tom pouting slightly. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not that old. I'll have you know that I'm very young for my age. Besides, time is different when you enter that world. It's hard to tell approximately how time works." Then he shook his head. "Never mind. We're getting off topic. What I was trying to say is that you need to be careful when you're around King Triton. Especially on the subject of us humans."

"I think Flounder mentioned something about that," said Garret. "Does he hate humans that much or something?"

"Very much so," said Tom. "So... if there's a chance that you run into him again, make sure you never, and I repeat, never mention you being a human. Otherwise he'll take his trident and blast you until you're a pile of ashes."

"Come on Dad. You can't be serious," said Garret. "I mean... he looks intimidating, but he wouldn't do that right?"

"I am serious," said Tom looking at Garret. "He hates humans with a passion so much, that he really just might kill you if he found out you were a human."

Garret gulped. "I... guess I better not tell him then," he said. "That is... if I ever or can go back."

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Tom. "You'll be able to use the mirror any time you want. Just... make sure that no one sees you and know about that mirror. The last thing I want is your mother and sister finding out about this or anyone finding out about it and using it for some kind of circus tour or something."

"I will Dad," said Garret. "By the way... mind if I ask you a few more questions?"

"Sure thing son," smiled Tom. "Fire away."

"So... first off... you said that you've been in that world too right? Why... does that mirror emit that singing noise?" asked Garret. "I mean have you heard that singing before or know who's voice that is?"

"Oh, that. Well... I never really knew what that was," said Tom thoughtfully. "Although I wish I'd knew. For all we know, a ghost of a mermaid could be sealed in that mirror."

"I highly doubt that," said Garret flatly. "Anyway, one more question. Has... anyone ever come out of that mirror from that world?"

"Hmmm... Not that I'm aware of," said Tom. "I don't think anyone's ever gotten through to this world before."

"I see. Then... I guess that's all," said Garret. "I think I'll go lay down in my room for a bit."

"All right then," said Tom. "And... I want to apologize to you again for not telling you about the mirror."

"It's alright Dad," said Garret. "Don't worry about it. You only did that to help me out right? Well... I guess it kinda did help. I mean... I was able to make new friends. But... I'm gonna need a break from all of this."

"That's understandable," said Tom. "Off you go then. But... one more thing. Don't worry about the time. When you reenter that world, it'll be like you've been gone for like a minute or an hour. And also, try not to wear your shirts or any other clothes."

"Duly noted Dad," said Garret as he walked up the stairs and back into his room.

When he was in his room, he plopped down on the bed and lied down on his back staring up at the ceiling. He was feeling a bit overwhelmed about what he had been just told and he still couldn't believe what his father had just told him. He wanted to pinch himself and wake up from this crazy dream, but he couldn't. Garret sighed as he turned to his side.

"Man... this has all been totally crazy," he said to himself. "I should be happy that I'm home, but... still..."

Garret continued to lie there on his head trying to process what he was told. Most of all, he was wondering whether it was OK to leave the world of Atlantica behind him considering the fact he was almost killed by sharks. However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't make a decision.

In the end, he decided to give up on thinking and closed his eyes and went to sleep hoping that the nap would ease his thoughts.


	11. Chapter 11

_Sorry if it's been a while guys, but here's another chapter! Happy reading!_

* * *

The next morning, Garret woke up to the start of a brand new day. He got up, got dressed, and went about another normal day at school. After the crazy adventure he had a couple days ago, Garret was looking forward to having a normal day at school.

However, as Garret went about his day at school, he wasn't thinking about school at all. All he could think about was the world of the Little Mermaid debating on whether or not he should still go over there. He could still remember meeting Ariel, her friends, her family, and even could remember Spot. Most of all, he could remember being chased by those three large sharks that attacked him and his friends. That was pretty much the biggest reason why he wasn't sure that it would be safe to venture into that world.

Soon enough, it was lunch period and Garret was sitting at the table by himself still thinking about his little problem playing with his lunch. As he did, a couple of the kids walked past him, a girl and a boy. As he took notice of them, he saw how much they were talking to each other. They looked to be the best of friends. Garret then turned back to his food not wanting to look at them anymore. Then not feeling hungry, Garret stood up and walked around the campus aimlessly not really having a destination to go to. As he walked, he passed by more students going about their day in school. Some of them looked at him and began whispering to each other, but Garret paid no mind as he kept on walking. It was all prattle talk anyway.

Soon enough, he came to the school library. He would always come here all the time whenever he had some free time or if he needed some time alone. After a few seconds of staring at the library, he decided to go inside.

"I might as well go there for a bit," he thought to himself. "Besides, I gotta return that book I just finished anyway. I wonder if there's anything new there."

He then walked into the library. Inside, the place was filled with tall bookshelves of books. There was also some large tables for the students if they wanted to do any reading and studying. It wasn't as big as any other library, but it wasn't that small either. As Garret walked inside, he looked around trying to find a certain individual. Then he saw the very person he was looking for.

Close by one of the bookshelves standing on a ladder putting books away, there was a woman. She appeared to be in her thirties about as old as his mom, had short blonde hair in a bob, wore glasses, and a long blue dress.

"Hello Ms. Gensar!" called out Garret.

The woman who Garret addressed as Ms. Gensar looked down at Garret and grinned upon seeing him.

"Oh! Garret! Hello there!" she said cheerfully. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," said Garret. "I just came to return the book I borrowed the other day."

"Just a moment!" said Ms. Gensar. "I'll be right down."

Ms. Gensar was one of the very few people that Garret spoke to, but at the same time it wasn't like he talked to her much. She was friendly, but Garret being the boy that he was, he hardly spoke to her if only when he was checking out books or turning some in.

She then placed put one more book back on it's shelf and climbed on down. At the very same time, Garret dug into his backpack and pulled out the book he was reading the other night and placed it on the counter. Ms. Gensar then grabbed the scanner and scanned it.

"My goodness," she said. "You only checked out this book a few days ago and you're already finished with it? Did you at least read the book?"

"Come on, Ms. Gensar, you know me better than that," said Garret. "I've always been a fast reader."

"So you keep telling me," smirked Ms. Gensar. "Anyway, what did you think? Did you like it?"

"It was really interesting," replied Garret. "Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I love reading every single word and going through every single page."

Ms. Gensar laughed. "I'm glad you liked it. Are you going to check out another book?"

"Of course I am," said Garret as he went over to a shelf looking through the books. "Do you have anything new?"

"Not for a while, but feel free to take a look," said Ms. Gensar. "There's bound to be a book that you haven't read yet. You just have to get a good look."

Garret walked into towards the bookshelves in the back and looked around checking the books from cover to cover trying to see if there was any books that were interesting to him. There books about history, books about how to do things, and even some books about manuals. But there wasn't a single book that Garret found an interest in.

"Man... there just isn't anything that sounds good right now," thought Garret. "There's gotta be something I haven't read yet."

He then walked towards the front shelves checking out the books on them. He ran his finger checking the titles of books from spine to spine. So far he still didn't find an book that struck him fancy, but then he saw a title of a book that made his finger stop.

The title read: _Mermaids. The World's Most Beautiful Mythical Creatures._

As soon as Garret read the title, he immediately thought about Ariel and all the other mermaids back in Atlantica. This made him sigh.

"Oh for crying out loud," he muttered. "Is this someone's idea of trying to mess with me or something? I mean come on..."

Garret's finger hovered over the book for a few seconds trying to decide that if he should take a look at it or not. It wasn't exactly the last thing he wanted to read, but it for some reason some part of him was a tad curious. Finally after about a couple minutes of debating with himself, he finally took the book off of its shelf and put it under his arm. He also picked a couple of other books as well. Some of them were ones that he read like fairy tale books and others were books that he hadn't read before like books about the ocean and about the gods from Greek.

Eventually after a few minutes, he came up to the counter where Ms. Gensar was and placed his picks on the counter, so he could check them out.

"I take it that you found the books you were looking for?" she asked.

"No. Not really," Garret replied. "Most of the books I've found here are either ones I've read before or ones I picked just for the heck of it."

As Ms. Gensar scanned the books, she couldn't help but look at some of the titles.

"Mermaids huh?" she said thoughtfully. "Since when have you taken an interest in them?"

"Just now I guess," said Garret. "There isn't really any reason."

"I see," said Ms. Gensar. "So what have you been up to these days, young Garret? I know I've been seeing you around in the library lately, but..."

"Meh. I'm hanging in there," Garret said shrugging his shoulders. "Nothing really new I guess."

Ms. Gensar soon finished scanning the books and then she gave them back to Garret. "There you go. Your books are all checked out," she said. "Enjoy."

"Thank you Ms. Gensar. I will," said Garret.

He then stuffed the books into his backpack and then zipped up his backpack. He hoisted it onto his shoulders feeling the new weight of the books and was just about to walk out of the library when he heard Ms. Gensar.

"Excuse me, Garret? One moment please."

Garret turned around. "Yeah? What's up?"

"You know... I was wondering if you were feeling alright," said Ms. Gensar. "You seem a bit... conflicted about something."

"What makes you ask me that?" asked Garret.

"Well... for one thing whenever you pick out books, you go straight for the one that captures your interest," explained Ms. Gensar. "This time, you hesitated before picking one."

"Oh. You saw that huh?" said Garret. "I just wasn't sure if that was the one I wanted, so that's probably why."

"You know Garret, if you ever need to talk to someone, the councilors are always here," said Ms. Gensar. "And I'm always here too."

Garret flashed a smile trying to his best to be reassuring. "I appreciate your concern Ms. Gensar, but I'm fine," he said. "It's nothing for you to be worried about."

Then the bell began to ring. Signaling that it was time for Garret to return to class.

"I gotta go. I'll see you later Ms. Gensar," said Garret as he left through the front door.

Ms. Gensar watched as Garret left until he was out of sight. Then she sighed to herself as she resumed her daily duties.

"These kids today," she said to herself. "They always try to be strong about their problems thinking that they can handle it on their own."

* * *

Back in the world of Atlantica, Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian were speaking to King Triton about what had become of Spot. King Triton was at first shocked that Ariel and the others were attacked by sharks, but he calmed down a little when he found out that Spot that saved them.

"Well, so Spot was able to fend off some sharks and he was able to return to his family?" he asked.

"Yes, your majesty," said Flounder. "You should have seen it! We were all like, ahhh! And Spot was like grrr! And then Bam! Smash! Whip!"

"Alright Flounder, I think Daddy understands," giggled Ariel. "Anyway Daddy, you'll be happy to know that Spot is back where he belong with his family."

"Very good," smiled King Triton. "I'm proud of you Ariel. I know that Spot was like a son to you and you didn't want to let him go, but you did the right thing by doing so and now Spot is back where he belongs."

"Thanks Daddy," smiled Ariel. "I am gonna miss him, but I'm happier knowing that he's safe with his family."

"Me too," agreed Flounder.

"Yes. I will miss da kid too," said Sebastian. "But I'm happier knowing dat tings will be a little less quieter around here."

"By the way Ariel, where is Garret?" asked King Triton. "I don't see him with you."

"He went into his room your majesty," said Flounder. "He said he was feeling a bit tired."

"Well, I can't really blame da boy. I'd be tired too after having ta deal with a morning like dat!" said Sebastian.

"If he's tired, then let him rest for now. You can check up on him later," said King Trition. "In the meantime, Sebastian I would like for you to go on an errand for me just outside of the kingdom."

"Yes your majesty," said Sebastian.

Then the king and the crab went away leaving Ariel and Flounder by themselves.

"Well what should we do now, Ariel?" asked Flounder.

"Well... we do have a lot of free time now, so what do you say we go play Bubble Pop Ball?" asked Ariel. "I know a great place we can play just outside of the kingdom."

"But what about Garret? Shouldn't we wait till he's better?" wondered Flounder.

"No. Let's let him rest for now. We don't want to bother him," said Ariel. "Now come on, let's go."

Ariel and Flounder then swam out of the palace heading outside of Altantica.

* * *

Back in the real world, it was after school and Garret was walking outside of the school ready to head home. He looked around trying to see if his mother Charlotte's car had driven up yet. He then saw a blue car minivan pull up to the front of the school and he saw his mom in the driver's seat. He then went up to the car and got inside sitting in the front seat.

"Hello honey," greeted Charlotte. "How was school?"

"It was fine," said Garret. "Nothing to report, I guess."

"Are you sure? You seem a little down," said Charlotte. "You look like you've got a lot on your mind. You know if you ever need to talk son, I'm right here for you."

"I know Mom, and I appreciate that, but I'm fine. Really," I said. "I'm just... thinking about some things right now."

As his mother drove towards home, Garret stared out of the window looking at the trees and houses that went by lost in his own thoughts and still contemplating about going back to Atlantica or not. He was now at the point of an impasse. As he continued to stare out of the window, he thought about what his father said about wanting him to make friends and about Ariel and Flounder telling him that he was their friend.

Then Garret spoke. "Mom? Do you mind if I asked you something?"

"Sure son," said Charlotte. "Ask away."

Garret then paused choosing his words carefully before responding. "OK. Here's the thing. Recently... I met a couple of people who were really nice to me. So... I hung out with them for a while and they consider me to be their friend. But recently, there was a bit of an... accident that caused me to be a little scared. Not at my friends mind you, but a fight of sorts. We were able to get out of the fight unscathed and one even risked her life for me, but now it has me feeling a bit scared. Like... could I ever be friends with them or something like that. I mean these people told me that they consider me as a friend as did I, but I still can't help but feel a little scared for some reason. So... I was wondering... what should I do?"

Charlotte was silent keeping her eyes on the road as she was driving. After a while, she gave her response.

"Well, if you want my opinion about it, I'd say that you should take advantage," she said. "I mean you care about your new friends don't you?"

"I... guess so," said Garret doubtfully.

"Then why don't you be friends with them? After all you said it yourself, you consider them your friends as they do you," continued Charlotte. "In addition, a good friend would do anything for their friend even risk their life to protect them. That's what a true friend is. If I was in your position, I would thank the person who saved me and be their friend for the rest of my days."

"You really think so?" wondered Garret now looking at his mother with curousity.

Charlotte smiled. "I know so honey, but that's my opinion. It's really up to you on whether or not you should see your friends again."

Garret then looked down at the floor as the car pulled up to the driveway.

* * *

After a while, Garret ate dinner, did his homework, took a bath, and was now lying on his bed reading a book. As he read, he couldn't help but think about his mother's words. He then set his book down and then lied there on his bed staring up at the ceiling. After a few hours of staring up at the ceiling for who knows how many minutes he finally sat up and made a decision.

He got off his bed and then went over to his drawer and switched his pajamas with a pair of shorts leaving himself bare-chested and bare-footed. He got a flashlight and then quietly walked out of his room making sure that his parents and his sister were asleep not daring to wake them up. Soon enough, he came to the door of the attic. He looked back making sure that his family was still asleep. Then he pulled down the chain making the ladder come down and then he climbed up entering the attic.

As the ladder of the attic pulled up on its own and the door shut, Garret turned on his flashlight and looked around. The attic was still in the same state as it was when it entered it before. He shone the light all around until he came across the door leading to the room with the mirror which was opened wide.

"Guess I should probably remember to shut the door," Garret said to himself. "At least that way, I'll avoid suspicion with Mom."

He walked into the room and shut the door behind him. He then walked up to the mirror its glassy surface shining from his flashlight. He then set the flashlight down and faced the mirror. He took a deep breath and then placed his hand on the surface of the mirror.

"I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but... I wanna go back," Garret said to himself. "I want to know more about that world. I want to know more about Atlantica. Most of all, I want to be with my friends."

Then as if the mirror was responding to his call, the teal gem began to glow and shine and the surface of the mirror became watery. The singing voice was once again heard as well, its sweet song floating around the room.

A large rope of water shot forth from the mirror whipping and swirling around Garret like before. However, Garret didn't fight it nor did he move. He instead closed his eyes and waited. The rope of water spun itself around and around Garret until it was a dome. He also felt himself being lifted up from the floor and being drawn to the mirror. Then Garret was sucked into the mirror entering the world of Atlantica once more.


	12. Chapter 12

Back in the world of Atlantica in a secluded area outside of the kingdom, the green oval of light appeared once again shining brightly and unleashing a strong whirlpool-like current once again. At the very same time, Garret came out of that oval of light and it closed behind him disappearing. He wasn't unconscious this time, but he felt a little dizzy.

"Geez... I really need to get used to that," he said. "It felt like I was riding some kind of wind tunnel. Or... in this case a water tunnel."

He then looked down at the lower part of his body and saw that his legs were once again a red gradient color of black merman's tail. He then pumped his fins and swam a couple feet to test it out.

"Looks like I haven't lost a beat when it comes to swimming with this thing," he said to himself. "But it still feels a bit weird."

He looked around trying to see where he was. It appeared to be the same location where Ariel and Flounder first taught him how to swim, only it was a few distances away. Garret then swam upwards. From up high, he could see where beautiful coral reefs and the various fish swimming about. Then he saw something in the distance. He could see two objects below him. Garret then swam closer and upon further inspection, he could see that two objects turned out to be Ariel and Flounder picking up some kind of strange large coconut-like things growing on a reef and throwing them at bubbles that were coming out of a crack popping them.

"Hey there Ariel. Hey Flounder," he said as he swam up to them.

"Oh. Hi Garret," spoke Ariel. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better now," replied Garret. "What are you two doing?"

"Me and Ariel were playing a game called Bubble Pop," said Flounder. "We didn't want to bother you while you rested."

"Bubble Pop?" puzzled Garret. "I've never heard of that game before."

"Well it's pretty easy to play," said Ariel as she went over to pick up one of the coconut-like nut. "All you have to do throw one of these sea nuts at the bubbles that come out before they pop. If you pop one, you get a point. The only catch is that you can't use your hands, only your fins."

"Seems pretty interesting," Garret said thoughtfully. "Mind if I play too? I can use this as an opportunity to test how good I am with my tail."

"Sure. Just pick up a sea nut and start throwing," smiled Flounder as he threw a rock popping another bubble.

Garret then swam over and picked one off of the sea nut. He waited until a bubble floated up, then he launched his rock into the air and then smacked it using his tail. The sea nut shot forwards and then pierced right through a bubble.

"Wow! Nice shot Garret!" complemented Flounder.

"Yeah! Not bad for a first-timer," said Ariel.

Garret scratched his cheek feeling a bit embarrassed. "Aw shucks. It was just a fluke," he said.

The three continued to keep playing Bubble Pop having a quite a bit of fun. Garret especially was having a good time. Playing this game reminded him of a few sports back at home which made it all the more fun. Soon enough, they all had a fair share of points with Flounder having a slight lead.

"You're getting good at this game you two," spoke Ariel. "Especially you Flounder."

"Thanks, Ariel," smiled Flounder, "Hey you guys! Watch this one!"

As he went over to pick up another rock, Garret then saw someone swimming by. A certain red crab was now just coming back from doing his errand for King Triton.

"I hope de king's in a good mood today," he said to himself. "Sometimes he's even crabbier dan I am."

"Hey, Ariel. Isn't that Crabby over there?" asked Garret.

"Yes. It is," said Ariel now seeing him as well. "And his name is Sebastian."

Then they saw Flounder about to take aim and throw his rock. It was then that they realized that Sebastian was right in his line of fire.

"Flounder! No!" cried Garret. "You're gonna-!"

But he was a second too late. Flounder had already launched the rock making it head straight towards Sebastian.

"Sebastian! Look out!" called Ariel.

Luckily, Sebastian heard Ariel's warning and was able to swim up just in time for the rock to shoot right past him. However, one of the bubbles ended up enveloping his head slowly began lifting him up.

"Hey! Get me out of dis ting!" he yelled.

Ariel quickly swam up and managed to catch Sebastian before he could float any higher also popping the bubble setting him free. Sebastian was a bit dazed, but he was alright.

"Gee. Sorry about that Sebastian," apologized Flounder. "King Triton would have been mad if I had smashed his right-hand crab."

"Dat's true," chuckled Sebastian. "De king counts on me, like I was his fingers. Well, I'd better get back to de palace. De king can't find his crown without me."

He gave Flounder a sideways wink and then swam importantly away.

Flounder and Ariel were impressed.

"Whoa! Sebastian must be the most important crab in the whole kingdom," said Flounder.

Garret rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Flounder. If you ask me, Sebastian's just being a big show off," he said. "Although... I am kinda curious as to what kind of job he does."

"Then why don't we find out?" asked Ariel. "Daddy's in his throne room right now and that's where Sebastian's headed. So why don't we watch and see what he really does?"

Flounder and Garret looked at each other and agreed. The three friends then swam back to Atlantica heading for the palace.

* * *

In the throne room just as Ariel said, King Triton was sitting in his throne with Sebastian off to the side ready and waiting to help whenever he was needed. The three friends spied through an opening on the roof watching and waiting to see what would happen. Sebastian looked around feeling a little bit bored. He happened to see some jellyfish carrying platters of pastries. He made sure that no one was looking and then took one and started munching on it.

Then he happened to look up and saw Ariel, Garret, and Flounder. Sebastian was a bit surprised to see them, but then he waved too. King Triton took notice of Sebastian waving and raised a questioning brow. Sebastian then hurriedly ripped some anemone and began dusting next him, so it would look like he was busy. Just then, something shot right past him like a rocket spinning him around and around. It was the orange seahorse with the purple ruff holding a small list.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" he proclaimed. "First item on the royal agenda, the semi-annual cleaning of the royal crown."

"I'll get dat for you, your majesty!" said Sebastian eagerly. "De royal crown can never be too clean, I always say."

He immediately swam over to King Triton and using the anemone began polishing his crown. Then there was trouble. In his haste of cleaning the crown, Sebastian tipped it upwards hoping to clean it underneath. However, he tipped it over too far causing the crown to fall right off of King Triton's head and onto the floor clinking and clanking as it bounced around.

Ariel and Flounder were worried while Garret snickered a little thinking that it was a little bit funny. King Triton on the other hand was not amused. He gave Sebastian a disapproving glare causing the poor little crab to squeak in terror. He immediately went after the crown and managed to catch it. Then he swam quickly back over and placed it back on his head. The orange seahorse cleared his throat again surveying the list.

"Next on the royal agenda, polishing the royal trident," he said.

"Oh! Allow me sire!" spoke Sebastian as he once again got eager to please his king.

He immediately went over to his trident and began polishing it.

"Sebastian no!" cried King Triton. "Don't touch that!"

But he was too late. The moment Sebastian started polishing it, the trident began to glow humming with power. It then shot a powerful blast which ricocheted around the room. Everyone who was in the room immediately took cover trying to avoid the blast. Even Ariel, Garret, and Flounder who were all outside had to stay well back in case the blast made its way outside.

King Triton then grabbed his trident and then held it up as if he was beckoning the blast to come to him. The blast bent towards the trident until it finally made contact creating a large burst of light. The trident absorbed the blast and dispersing it. No was hurt, but King Triton was growing somewhat impatient now.

"Proceed," he spoke to the orange seahorse.

The orange seahorse looked back at his list which now had a large hole in it, but it was still readable.

"Next on the royal agenda," he spoke. "The Sharkanian problem."

"Oh yes! I remember them," said King Triton. "My greatest wish is to make peace with the Sharkanians. I have been searching high and low tide for an expert on Sharkania. He would be my most prized advisor."

"Advisor?" whispered Sebastian to himself showing interest.

He looked up at Ariel, Garret, and Flounder who were wondering what he had planned. Not wanting to let them down and wanting to impress King Triton, Sebastian quickly spoke up.

"Oh, uh, your majesty! I myself am well-versed in de Sharkanian culture," he said.

King Triton was surprised. "Really Sebastian?"

"Oh my yes, I know Sharkania like de back of me own head," Sebastian spoke proudly. "In fact, I spent some time dere back in my youth."

"Is that right?" spoke King Triton doubtfully. "You know, Sharkanians are notorious for being very devious."

"Oh yes. Most devious," agreed Sebastian.

Then with a wave of his trident, King Triton created a picture of a creature. It appeared to look just like a merman, but this one was a lot bulkier. It also had a large dorsal fin on its back and had sharp teeth making it look meaner in appearance.

"And you should also know that Emperor Shargo is quite cunning," spoke the king.

"Man, don't I know it," Sebastian agreed again.

"I also need someone to see through Sharkanian schemes and be able to speak their language," added King Triton.

Sebastian puffed his chest with pride as he picked up a pastry from one of the platters.

"Ha! I can see through dem like I see through de hole in dis seaweed doughnut," he said confidently. "Sharkanian is also a simple language, your majesty. Dey just go 'blaaaarrrrgg!' "

"Then my search is over," King Triton spoke smiling. "You, Sebastian, shall be my ambassador to Sharkania."

"Tank you, your grace. You won't regret it," Sebastian bowed.

The king then gave Sebastian a rolled up scroll which was too heavy for Sebastian to life causing him to fall to the floor with the scroll.

"First, you'll have my decree of safe passage," said King Triton.

Sebastian was a bit puzzled. "You're too generous, your majesty, but why would I need-"

"You are going to Sharkania to arrange a peace conference," cut in the king. "Then you will meet the Sharkanians and then bring them into the family of Atlantica!"

Now Sebastian was worried. He face even grew a lot less red than before. "Go? Meet? Bring?" he squeaked.

From above them, Ariel, Flounder, and Garret had heard everything. Flounder was impressed, Ariel was worried and doubtful as was Garret, but the boy couldn't help but be amused with the situation.

"Looks like Crabby bit off a little more than he could chew on this one," he said. "And now that I think about it, I'm curious. What exactly is a Sharkanian? They appear to look just like merpeople."

"Well they do, but they're completely different," said Ariel. "Sharkanians are like us, but they look like sharks with hands and they can talk too. Not to mention they've been Atlantica's enemies for quite some time now."

"And Crabby claims to know everything about them?" wondered Garret raising a brow. "Ha! Sounds like a tall tale if I ever heard one. A little guy like him's gonna get eaten alive."

"Come on Garret. You don't know that," said Flounder. "Sebastian's the king's greatest advisor! He's gonna whip those sorry Sharkanians in shape! You'll see!"

Garret and Ariel looked at each other feeling very doubtful.

* * *

A little later, the word soon spread and King Triton had arranged a big send off for Sebastian. Everyone in kingdom was at the palace all wanting to wish him good luck. The king had even arranged a ride for the red crab in style which a carriage led by four dolphins. As Sebastian boarded his ride with Trition's safe of passage, he could hear the crowd cheering for him.

"Go get em Sebastian!"

"Yeah! Show em who's boss!"

"Oh. I'm gonna show dem alright," Sebastian muttered. "Showing dem who's food."

As soon as Sebastian was settled in his carriage, the orange seahorse handed him the reigns and before Sebastian could react, the dolphins shot forward and he was already away. However, the red crab managed to regain control as the carriage disappeared from sight at the palace.

"Oh, man. I'm crab cakes now for sure. I don't know anyting about Sharkania! I just accidentally floated through de place one night," Sebastian said to himself. "Oh, how do I get myself into these situations?"

Soon enough, Sebastian found himself getting close to Sharkanian territory and could see the palace belong to Emperor Sharga in sight. It bore some similarities to the palace back in Atlantica, but it looked more like a volcanic mountain with rivers of magma and everything. He now felt more terrified than he ever was before.

"Oh man, Sharkania," he gulped. "Be it ever so humble, it's no place like home."

Just then, three shadows cast over the red crab causing him to immediately shriek in terror. He grabbed the scroll that King Triton gave him, unwrapped it, and then hid beneath it shivering in fear.

"Don't eat me!" he pleaded. "Never eat shellfish in the middle of October!"

Then he heard a pair of familiar voices.

"Hi Sebastian."

"Relax Crabby. It's just us."

Sebastian then peeked out. There above him was Ariel, Garret, and Flounder. He felt very relieved to see them.

"Ariel! Flounder! Garret! What are you tree doing here?" he asked as he came out from the scroll. "Not dat I'm complaining."

"We thought we'd tag along with you," replied Ariel as she rolled the scroll. "So that maybe we can, you know, help."

"Help? Me? Nah, I don't need no help," sighed Sebastian sadly. "I can get meself eaten by me own self."

"Oh come on, Crabby. What happened to all that confidence you had a while back?" asked Garret. "Don't tell me that was really just all talk and you were just trying to get in the king's good graces?"

"Don't call me Crabby!" snapped Sebastian. "And it wasn't! I mean-"

Sebastian was trying to brave, but at the same time he wasn't. Ariel then picked him up and placed him back in the seat of the carriage.

"Come on Sebastian," she spoke kindly. "We'll be behind you the whole way."

"Yeah. Waaay behind you," said Flounder who sounded a bit frightened too.

Garret gave Flounder a light nudge telling him to be quiet. Then he spoke kindly to Sebastian too.

"Look Crabby, you may have gotten yourself into this... situation," he said. "But believe me when I say that Ariel's right. We'll be right there with you. Even though we're heading into a territory that's filled with creatures that are filled with shark lookalikes that could possibly kill us in a volcanic mountain that looks like Atlantica. But... you know it's no big deal."

This time, Ariel gave Garret a nudge. A hard one at his rib making Garret yelp a little in pain.

"Garret," she whispered disapprovingly.

"What? It's true," spoke Garret.

"Oh man. I'm doomed," groaned Sebastian.

The three then took off heading towards the palace of Sharkania with Sebastian praying and hoping that the Sharkanians there won't make a meal out of them. Most especially him.


	13. Chapter 13

The party then made their way towards the entrance of Emperor Sharga's palace. It was a cave in the shape of a large shark with its mouth wide open. They entered inside the mouth and came to a door at the bottom of the floor with only some light peeking out from the cracks of the door. Sebastian was still feeling dreadfully nervous hesitating to knock on the door, but Ariel, Garret, and Flounder stood by him giving their support.

"Come on, Sebastian," encouraged Ariel. "Let the Sharkanians know that et them know the ambassador is here."

"Yeah. You got this Crabby," spoke Garret giving him a thumbs up.

Sebastian took a deep and shaky breath and then gave three loud knocks on the door instinctively flinching with fear upon doing so.

Nothing happened.

"Oh well, nobody home, including us," spoke the red crab. "So let's go home den somebody will be home."

He then started to crawl away wanting to leave as soon as possible when Flounder blocked his way.

"Come on Sebastian, don't be so scared," he spoke. "Even I'm brave enough to ring the bell."

He then took notice of an actual doorbell hanging just in front of them. He swam over and gave it a bump with his nose. The bell let out a loud chime causing the tropical fish to jump in surprise and immediately hide in Ariel's hair.

"What was that about you being brave?" asked Garret.

Then a small door opened and the three saw a pair of pink and menacing eyes belonging to a gatekeeper from the other side of the door causing all of them to jump a little.

"Who goes there?!" demanded the gatekeeper.

Sebastian gulped. "We got ta go dere!" he squeaked. "In fact we got ta go dere right now!"

He once again tried to crawl not wanting anything more to do with his mission, but he was stopped by Ariel who gently pushed him to the opening.

"This is the royal peace ambassador from King Triton of Atlantica," she spoke importantly as she also unrolled the parchment. "And he's got one of these, a decree of safe passage."

At that moment, the small door shut with a slam and the actual door opened and the gatekeeper swam out of the door. He looked just like the picture of Emperor Sharga that King Triton had made back at the palace, only he was leaner. He was a sharkanian with a green chest plate, bronze bracelets and held a sharp spear in his hands. The gatekeeper growled as he glared at the three causing the three to feel uneasy, but Ariel bravely swam forward showing the Sharkanian the parchment in her hands.

"You wouldn't want the powerful Triton to come here personally, would you?" she asked in a challenging tone.

"Yeah. He'd probably bring his trident and-pazow!" added Flounder. "Fry a few tails around here."

"Now, now Flounder. You're exaggerating," joined in Garret. "He'd probably fry a dozen tails at least if he's in a bad mood."

The Sharkanian growled again glaring at the three looking at them first and then back at the parchment. He took a quick read making sure that the peace of passage was real, then he snatched the parchment out of Ariel's hands and went through the door. Ariel and the others then followed the Sharkanian inside with Sebastian still trying to make an attempt to crawl away.

"Maybe I'll just stay outside," he said. "You know wait out here until-"

Ariel immediately scooped him up cutting him off. Flounder who was also feeling a bit scared hid in Ariel's hair again as they swam along.

"Don't worry Flounder," she reassured. "The ambassador will protect us."

Sebastian let out a sigh of relief. "Oh t'ank goodness," he said. "He can take over for me when he gets here."

"Um... Crabby. I don't know if you've forgotten or anything," spoke Garret. "But _you're_ the ambassador."

Sebastian's eyes widened in realization as his crab legs began to chatter and shake. "Dat's right! _I'm_ the ambassador!" he gulped.

The gatekeeper Sharkanian then returned. "Emperor Sharga will see you now," he spoke gruffly.

Sebastian was so frightened by the sharkanian's appearance, that he jumped right on top of Ariel's head. Garret then placed him back on the ground.

"Come on Crabby, pull it together," spoke Garret. "You're gonna make King Triton look bad if you back out now. Show a little backbone."

Sebastian was still feeling frightened, but he plucked up courage. He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and swam to the throne room with Ariel, Garret, and Flounder following suit.

The throne room was mostly comprised of an abandoned beak part of a ship. In front of that beak was five sharkanians. Four of them were guards each one holding a spear and the one in the middle was Emperor Sharga himself. He looked just like that other Sharkanians, only he wore black and red garb and was a little bigger than the others. He also had his back turned seeming to be munching on something. Sebastian then ventured towards them his courage slowly ebbing away with every step he took. Then one of the guard sharkanian took notice of the red crab.

"Who dares trespass on Sharkanian territory?!" he barked.

Sebastian let out a startled yelp and little frightened, but he didn't run away this time. He just smiled widely trying to be as friendly as he could. Emperor Sharga then turned looking down at the small crab and held out something that he was munching on which was a rectangular piece of food with a picture of a crab on it.

"Crab candy?" he asked.

Sebastian gulped as he shook his head feeling a cold sweat run down his back. "N-no tank you Emperor Sh-shaga," he spoke nervously. "I-I'm on a diet."

"Me too," Emperor Sharga spoke now giving Sebastian a hungry look. "A seafood diet. And I'm hungry."

This was the final straw for Sebastian. He was so terrified that he immediately fainted falling flat on his back. The other Sharkanians sniggered as Ariel and the others went over to check on Sebastian.

"Sebastian, are you alright?" asked Ariel.

"No Ariel, I'm all wrong," spoke Sebastian miserably having to have regained conscious. "All wrong for dis job."

"That's not true, Crabby," spoke Garret. "They're just trying to scare you."

"Well, it's working," spoke Sebastian defeatedly.

It seemed that Sebastian had given up all hope, but Ariel, Garret, and even Flounder wanted to help the poor crustacean. Ariel then bravely swam up to the Sharkanians standing to no more nonsense.

" Hear me, Sharga. Sebastian is an important official of King Triton's court!" she spoke. "He's come to arrange a peace conference and he's not leaving till he gets what he wants!"

"Yeah! And he doesn't care if you chew off his head and crack every bone in his body!" added Flounder.

"Dat's right," mumbled Sebastian. "But... chewing off de head would be sufficient."

Emperor Sharga then grabbed one of the guards by the collar and the two spoke to each other privately whispering to each other. Garret then went over to Ariel feeling a bit uneasy.

"Ariel, what are you doing?" he whispered. "Don't you think you and Flounder are laying it a bit thick here?"

"Just play along, Garret," Ariel whispered back. "Everything is under control." She then spoke to Sebastian. "Listen! Now's your chance!" she spoke.

"Ta run?" squeaked Sebastian timidly.

"No! To seize the moment, Sebastian!" said Ariel pounding her fist. "To speak from your heart! You are the king's ambassador of peace!"

"Yeah! You can do it, Crabby!" encouraged Garret joining in. "You got this! You're the king's number one ambassador and he's counting on you to see this mission of peace through to the end! If you do this, you'll be Triton's number one advisor like he said before!"

Sebastian's eyes widened. Then he felt himself brimming with confidence and growing brave.

"You're right, kids," he murmured.

He then swam importantly towards Emperor Sharga. Two Sharkanian guards blocked his way with their spears, but Sebastian didn't back down.

"Shaga! If you don't agree ta peace, you shall never live in harmony with the rest of de sea!" he spoke.

Emperor Sharga pinched his nose seeming to be annoyed. "We'll do it..." he mumbled.

But Sebastian not hearing the Sharkanian continued. "No, no, no, no! Now! We must make peace for de sake of de children who live all over under de sea!" he continued.

"We'll do it," Emperor Sharga spoke again growing more irritated by the second.

But Sebastian continued talking still not hearing what Emperor Sharga said. "Peace don't wait for nobody!" he said. "As Ariel said, I'm not leaving until I get what I-"

"ENOUGH!" yelled Emperor Sharga.

Sebastian wasn't talking anymore. Then Emperor Sharga spoke again, so Sebastian could hear him this time.

"We'll do it," he said once again.

"Y-you will?" wondered Sebastian. "Well, I'll be a sea monkey's uncle."

He was a bit taken aback from Emperor Sharga's response, but he was pleased. So was Ariel, Flounder, and Garret. Emperor Sharga then turned around and flashed a toothy smile.

"And because of your king sending you to make peace with us, Sebastian," he said. "From this moment on, you will be known as 'The Great Sebastian.' "

Sebastian puffed his chest with pride. Flounder felt happy for the red crab. Ariel and Garret both looked at each other feeling a bit suspicious.

* * *

After that, the four left the throne room and were swimming back to the carriage shell.

"The Sharkanians sure did agreed to peace quickly," spoke Ariel.

"Yeah. No kidding," agreed Garret. "I wonder why?"

"Well, dey was up against the king's right-hand crab and I gave dem de hard shell," said Sebastian."De Sharkanians are even sending a great treasure to de king to tank him for sending me to dem. I also like the nickname they gave me. "The Great Sebastian." It has a nice ring to it."

Ariel and Garret rolled their eyes while Flounder was filled with admiration. Then suddenly, the doorbell that was hanging fell right on top of Sebastian with a mighty clang. Sebastian wasn't hurt, but he was a bit punch drunk as he lifted the bell that was on top of him and crawled unsteadily out.

"Well, I better get back to de party," he spoke dizzily. "Everybody dere want ta shake me claw."

"Well, don't keep them waiting, Sebastian," smiled Ariel. "Flounder and I are going to do a little exploring. Garret? Would you mind going with Sebastian back to Atlantica?"to?

"Um... sure. Sure I can," spoke Garret doubtfully. Then he spoke low so only Ariel could hear him. "Ariel, what are you up to?"

"Flounder and I are gonna explore a bit," Ariel spoke. "I'm feeling a bit suspicious about the sharkanians, so I want you to stay with Sebastian to keep him safe."

"But... don't you think you're being too suspicious, Ariel?" asked Garret. "Maybe the Sharkanians really want peace. And why do I have to watch, Crabby? I mean, he can handle himself... right?"

Garret then looked back at Sebastian who was still feeling a bit dazed due to being hit by the bell. He staggered as he walked until he hit the side of the shell carriage making the crab fall flat on his back.

Garret then sighed understanding. "Alright. I'll keep an eye on Crabby," he said. "But you and Flounder had better be careful."

"Don't worry. We will," smiled Ariel. "Come on Flounder."

The two then swam out of the cave disappearing into a crevice in front of it.

* * *

As Ariel and Flounder swam deeper and deeper into the crack, they swam past strange vine-like seaweed that had thorns.

"Great, we can't possibly find anyplace scarier than this," muttered Flounder.

Then a scary looking eel snaked its way past the tropical fish making him shudder with fear.

"I was wrong, as usual," he squeaked.

"Come on Flounder!" called Ariel. "There's a light just up ahead."

The two ventured deeper and deeper until they made it out of the crevice and into the light. In front of them was a graveyard of sunken ships who once sailed the waters long ago. Flounder was more frightened than before, but Ariel was amazed. Then in the distance at one of the sunken ships, the two saw a bright light. The two then swam towards the ship wondering where the light was coming from. When they were close enough to the ship, they peered through an hole on the hull of the ship. Inside, they saw three sharkanians inside with an open trunk with one of them holding an eel which was the source of the glowing light.

"Now listen up! The light of this eel will be the signal for our army to attack," said the first sharkanian. "Once that idiot crab delivers our gift to Triton's palace, one of you steal Triton's trident, and the other signal our army from the highest tower. Wait until everyone is asleep.

The sharkanian then stuffed the glowing eel inside a sack and gave it to one of the other sharkanians who was appearing to having his doubts.

"But Commander," said the second Sharkanian. "If you are asleep, you won't be able to see our signal. How are you gonna-"

The sharkanian whom the second identified as his commander growled and grabbed the second sharkanian by the cuff of his chest plate and pulled to his face their noses touching.

"We won't be asleep, you minnow-brain!" the commander barked. "Triton will!"

"Oh. I knew that," said the second sharkanian.

Then the commander sharkanian grabbed the third sharkanian and then stuffed him along with the second sharkanian in the trunk. Then he placed a cover on top of the trunk hiding the sharkanians inside making the trunk seem to be one filled with treasure. The commander sharkanian smirked evilly as he slammed the trunk shut with a slam.

Ariel and Flounder having to have heard and seen everything were horrified.

"I knew it! Sharkanians don't want peace at all!" gasped Ariel. "They're using Sebastian to destroy Atlantica!"

The two were about to swim off hoping to warn Sebastian, but suddenly two other sharkanian swooped down with nets and trapped Ariel and Flounder with them. The struggled trying to escape, but it was no use. The two were as good as caught.

* * *

Ariel and Flounder soon found themselves inside the wreck of the ship in chains, now both the Sharkanian's prisoners.

"Well, well. Lookie what we got here," smirked the commander sharkanian. "If it isn't Princess Ariel and her little guppy friend. Thought you could snoop around eh? Well think again!" He then got out a piece of paper and a quill pen. "Since you both know our little plan, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna write a note to that little crab and telling him along with the merman to go on without you two."

"Never!" cried Ariel defiantly. "You'll never force me to do what you say!"

"Oh, but you will princess," spoke the commander sharkanian. "Otherwise, my lieutenant here will fillet your little friend!"

And just to prove it, the lieutenant pointed his weapon dangerously at Flounder threatening to use it to spear the poor guppy making him squeak with fright. Not wanting any harm to come to Flounder, Ariel stood in front of them shielding her friend.

"Wait...! I'll... I'll do it," she said bitterly.

The commander sharkanian smirked evilly in triumph and turned towards the another sharkanian.

"Release her," he commanded. "But just long enough to play pen pals with that cockle-brained crab!"

The sharkanian then uncuffed Ariel's hands as the sharkanian commander handed her the paper and the quill pen. Ariel reluctantly took them and she began writing on the paper with the quill.

* * *

Meanwhile back with Sebastian and Garret, they along with Emperor Sharag were watching two of the sharkanians load up the trunk containing the two other sharkanians inside of it into the shell carriage unaware of the trap that Emperor Sharga was setting in motion.

"Great Sebastian," spoke Emperor Sharga. "This gift of treasure will prove just how sincere we are about... peace."

"Oh, yes. De king will be very surprised," agreed Sebastian.

"Oh, I know he will," smirked Emperor Sharga ominously.

Garret glanced back at the sharkanians still having his doubts about them. He also feeling a little worried about Ariel and Flounder who haven't returned to them yet.

"I hope those two are OK," he thought. "They've been gone for quite a while."

He wasn't the only one who noticed their disappearance. Sebastian noticed as well.

"Now where's dat Ariel and Flounder?" he wondered. "I haven't seen dose two for a while now."

"Last time I checked, they told me that they were exploring," said Garret.

The commander sharkanian then came up to them with a note. The note of which that Ariel was forced to write.

"Oh, Great Sebastian, your friend said to give you this," said the commander sharkanian.

He then placed the note in front of Sebastian and the red crab gave the note a quick read.

" "Dear Sebastian, We've decided to stay a while. Tell father I'll be home late.' " he read. "Dat girl! Head always in the clouds. And for a mermaid, that's way out there man."

"What do you expect? She's just an inquisitive young mermaid," shrugged Emperor Sharga. "Not a shrewd, diplomatic, forward-thinking crab like yourself."

Sebastian's face gushed with pride. "I tink forward, dough I do walk sideways," he said. "But I don't know, maybe we should wait."

"I agree," said Garret. "Regardless of what Ariel says, I think we should wait for her and Flounder to get back just to be safe."

"Ah you don't want to wait," insisted the commander sharkanian. "Remember your famous slogan? 'Peace don't wait for nobody.' " He then swam up to the two and spoke low, so only the two of them could hear. "And take it from someone who knows, Emperor Sharga doesn't like to wait."

Garret and Sebastian happened to look back at Emperor Sharga. He appeared to look impatient as he gave Sebastian and Garret a growling glare as he ground his teeth making the two immediately gulp.

"Um W-we see your points... er, point," agreed Sebastian. "Right, Garret me boy?"

"I suppose so," said Garret looking back at Emperor Sharga still before getting in the shell carriage.

Sebastian took a hold of the reigns and was about to set off when they heard Emperor Sharga again.

"You do know the way, right Great Sebastian?" he asked.

"Well, of course I do, Emperor Sharga," laughed Sebastian. "Don't be silly. Do I look like some kind of fool?"

"You sure are acting like one," muttered Garret.

Sebastian took no notice as he gave the reigns a quick whip. "Now, off to Atlantica!"

The dolphins were on the move and Garret and Sebastian were on their way heading back home. The red crab was still feeling very pleased with himself.

" I'm certain ta get a big medal for this," he spoke to himself. "Of course, dey can't pin it on my handsome crustacean body. But maybe dey'll use glue or something."

"I wish I could glue your mouth shut," spoke Garret.

"No need to be jealous, my boy," smiled Sebastian. "It's only natural to feel jealous on someone who is soon going to be de king's number one advisor."

Garret could only sigh pinching the bridge of his nose as the carriage went on. As they drove along, the two sharkanians hiding inside of the trunk peeked out from two tiny doors snickering quietly.


	14. Chapter 14

Garret and Sebastian were riding along heading back to Atlantica. They were pretty much past the boundary of Sharkania and were in calmer and less ominous waters. Sebastian was still talking to himself about how he was going to be praised by King Triton and be his number one advisor. Garret, however, was still feeling worried as he looked out to the waters as they rode. Not to mention that he was suspicious about Emperor Sharga and the other sharkanians accepting peace so easily and the fact that Ariel sent that note to go on without her and Flounder. It made him think that something was going on, but he couldn't put his tongue on it.

"I could be wrong about this, but Ariel sending a note like that isn't like," he thought. "At least... I don't think it is. I wonder if I should go back and check on her. He then turned to Sebastian who was still beside himself with pride. "And I doubt that Crabby here is gonna want to go back to Sharkania with me, so... I guess I better fly... or in this case swim solo."

Then while Sebastian drove without getting his attention, Garret got out of the carriage and then swam away towards the other direction heading back to Sharkania. He was a bit uneasy not wanting to go back to Sharkania himself, but he told himself that he had to, to make sure that both Ariel and Flounder were safe.

* * *

Back at the shipwreck, Ariel and Flounder were still chained unable to escape from their predicament with a sharkanian watching them. Then, the commander sharkanian came in smiling from cheek to cheek flashing his teeth.

"Hey there kiddies," he chuckled snarkily. "Your "Great Sebastian" and as well as your merman friend fell for our plan, hook, line, and sinker."

"Oh great, three of my least favorite words," groaned Flounder.

"And tonight, the Sharkanian army will destroy Atlantica forever!" continued the commander sharkanian. "And there's nothing you and your little friend can do about it!"

Ariel glared at the sharkanian defiantly. "You won't get away with this," she said. "My daddy won't fall for your plan and he will stop you!"

"We'll see about that," snickered the commander sharkanian. Then he turned to the sharkanian that was assigned as to guard the two. "Make sure that these two don't escape. We won't want anything to ruin the plan."

"Aye, aye sir!" responded the sharkanian.

And then the commander Sharkanian left. After a while, the guard started to get a little sleepy and eventually fell asleep. As he counted z's, Ariel then made a plan.

"I have an idea, Flounder," she said. "Follow my lead." She then spoke loud enough for the sharkanian to hear her. "I told you, Flounder. You can't go around fin-fighting every Sharkanian you come across," she said.

The sharkanian woke up with a start as Flounder scoffed bravely.

"Why not? They're all a bunch of jellyfish," spoke Flounder.

The sharkanian guard laughed. "Ooh. I'm so scared," he said sarcastically.

"I wouldn't be so smug if I was you," said Flounder gruffly trying to be tough. "I've never lost a fin-fight to a Sharkanian!"

"Is that so?" wondered the sharkanian guard raising a brow. "You're nothing but a guppy."

 **"** Oh, yeah? Well, I bet plankton's smarter than you," Flounder shot back getting nose to nose with him. "Come on and put up your fins!"

Now the sharkanian was worried. A bit shy of brains, but somewhat worried. "Really?" he asked.

Ariel then reeled Flounder back using the chain that held him. "Now now, Flounder, you wouldn't want to hurt him," she said innocently.

"That's right," agreed the sharkanian guard. Then he quickly realized what Ariel said which made him angry. "Wait a minute... Hey!" He then pulled the shackle that held Flounder's fin off of him wanting to defend his pride. "Alright, you cocky twerp! Show me how to fin-fight!"

Flounder and Ariel smiled at each other seeing that the sharkanian had taken the bait.

"Well you fight fins only, so we have to tie your hands," said Ariel.

Flounder then picked up a rope and in a few seconds, he tied the sharkanians hands together on one end of the rope and then tied the other end on a metal loop, so the sharkanian wouldn't get away. The sharkanian unaware of what was going on cackled with excitement.

"Oh, I'm going to love this," he smirked. "OK, now what?"

But then, Flounder quickly swam over and grabbed the key that was hanging on the wall and swam over to Ariel. Ariel took the key and quickly uncuffed her hands and set herself free. Not wanting to stick around any longer, Ariel and Flounder quickly swam out of the room leaving the tied up sharkanian behind.

The sharkanian guard was confused. "Hey! What about the fin-fight?!" he called.

Flounder then swam back to the sharkanian guard grinning. "Oh yeah, I never lost a fin fight to a Sharkanian 'cause I never fought one!" he laughed.

Now the sharkanian knew that it had been tricked. He barred his teeth in anger and snapped his jaws at Flounder, but the fish swam away laughing as he and Ariel made their escape.

* * *

Ariel and Flounder eventually managed to make it out of the crevice and back to the front entrance of the sharkanian palace leaving the sharkanian territory. There wasn't a single sharkanian to be seen. Not only that, but Sebastian was gone as well.

"Oh no, the sharkanians and Sebastian must have left already!" cried Ariel. "We've got to get back to Atlantica before its too late!"

Just then, they heard the sound of someone's voice.

"Ariel! Flounder! Where are you guys?!"

"Wh-what was that?!" cried Flounder fearfully. "A-another sharkanian?!"

"No," spoke Ariel. "I think that's..."

They then saw someone swimming towards them. It was Garret who was looking for Ariel and Flounder.

"Garret! Over here!" called out Ariel.

The boy upon hearing her voice saw them and then immediately swam over to them looking relieved.

"Ariel! Flounder! I'm glad to see that you're both safe!" he said. "Where have you two been?"

"Locked up by the sharkanians," spoke Flounder. "That's where."

"Wait... what do you mean by that?" asked Garret feeling puzzled.

Ariel then explained. "Garret, we were right. The sharkanians don't want peace, they want to destroy Atlantica!" she said. "Me and Flounder overheard them and saw one of their commander stuff two others in a trunk disguised to be a treasure chest. The sharkanians inside are going to signal the army outside of Atlantica and then they're going to destroy it!"

Now Garret was worried. "Ariel, are you two sure about this?"

"Of course we are," spoke Flounder. "As sure as... as sure as a shark attack!"

"Yeah, I had a feeling those sharkanians were up to something," said Garret. "Those guys were buttering up Sebastian like he was a piece of toast. We've got to get to Atlantica before the sharkanians attack!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" said Ariel. "I just hope we're not too late."

The three friend then swam towards Atlantica as fast as they could.

* * *

Meanwhile, after having a difficult time with the chest along the way, Sebastian finally made it back to Atlantica. When he got there, a crowd of merpeople was waiting for him clapping and cheering as he went by. If his ego wasn't big enough before, it sure was now.

"Oh, I wish de kids could see me now," he said to himself. "Dey'd be so proud, dey'd flip their tails."

Sebastian flashed a smile as wave all the Atlantians a wave as he rode towards the palace eager to see King Triton. He soon arrived at the palace and had the treasure trunk brought to the throne before King Triton. He then told King Triton what had happened and King Triton couldn't help but be pleased and impressed with the red crab. When he had finished, Sebastian presented him with the treasure chest that was given to him by Emperor Sharga.

"De Sharkanian ambassador's arriving tomorrow, your majesty," Sebastian spoke proudly. "Den we ambassadors will be ambassadoring all over de place."

King Trition inspected the tresure chest and then smiled with pride at the red crab. "You've done well, Sebastian. You have my thanks." he spoke as he shook he claw.

Sebastian felt proud, but he couldn't help, but feel somewhat disappointed. "Well... dat's nice but I was hoping for a medal or something," he said.

"Eh, perhaps, but I think you should let me sleep on it," said the king.

Then the king as well as Sebastian then swam away heading to bed leaving the treasure chest behind. The sharkanians that were inside it were battered, beaten, and clearly fed up. You see, on the way back to Atlantica, the trunk they were in kept falling off and Sebastian had to keep pushing it back in the carriage. Every time the trunk fell out, the sharkanians were rattled and bounced about inside. Now that they were in the palace, they couldn't wait till nightfall.

 **"** When we bust out of here, the first thing I'm going to do is crush that little crab," growled the first.

"Yeah, no kidding," agreed the second. "This chest is getting stuffy..."

* * *

Meanwhile, outside of Atlantica, the sharkanian army had arrived poised and ready to attack and were waiting for the two sharkanians inside of the palace to signal them to attack with Emperor Sharga leading the charge. The commander sharkanian swam up and spoke to Emperor Sharga.

"Remember, look for the light of an eel in the palace's tallest tower, sire," he said.

"I am well aware," spoke Emperor Sharga. "And once we see it, then we'll attack and destroy Atlantica once and for all." He then turned to a nervous sharkanian soldier next to him smiling sweetly at him. "By the way, do you like being in the army?"

The nervous sharkanian nodded furiously not wanting to say no.

"I just can't believe that stupid crab," spoke another soldier. "I mean, how stupid can you get?"

"I know right?" chuckled a third. "Any bubble-brain would have seen through that old two-guys-hidden-in-a-treasure-chest trick."

Just then, a certain fish and a merboy with a red and black tail fin swam past them pulling along a large clam with a tail fin sticking out.

"Excuse us! Emperor's midnight snack, coming through!" the fish said.

"Make way! Make way!" called the mermboy. "Emperor's midnight snack! Emperor's snack! Coming through!" He then gave the sharkanians a wave flashing a smile. "Keep up the good work!"

The two sharkanians watched as Garret and Flounder swam away dragging the shell with them. The two felt puzzled.

"Hey, that little fish looked familiar," said the first.

"Yeah. And that merboy too," said the second. "But I don't remember where."

* * *

Garret and Flounder pulled along the shell until they were close to the boundary to Atlantica. The clam then opened and Ariel swam out pleased that their idea worked.

"Nice going, you two!" she whispered. "Now, come on. We got a kingdom to save!"

"Right behind you. Ariel," replied Garret as he and Ariel swam towards a certain location.

Flounder however was exhausted and clearly had enough for one day. "I think I've reached my bravery limit for one night," he wheezed. "I'll stay here."

"Oh that's a great idea Flounder," spoke Garret smiling mischievously and with saracasm. "You can stay here with the sharkanians and get eaten."

Flounder then looked back towards the sharkanian army and gulped. Then he pumped his fin and swam until he caught up with Ariel and Garret. The three friends swam until they came to the location they had been looking for. The bush of sea nuts they were playing with earlier and they began to pick one after another getting ready.

* * *

Nightfall finally came and as the palace was quiet. The sharkanians that were hiding in the trunk saw this and they quietly got out of the trunk closing the lid not making a sound.

"You steal the king's trident," said the first sharkanian as he held up the bag containing the glowing eel. "I'll signal the army."

The two then separated executing the plan.

The first sharkanian with the eel swam up till he was at the highest part of the palace. He was just about to open the bag to release the eel when...

"So, tink you can make a sea monkey out of old Sebastian, eh?" yelled a voice.

The sharkanian jumped a bit startled, but then he saw who voice belonged to. There swimming in front of him was a very cross Sebastian. The sharkanian laughed upon seeing him wanting nothing more than to crush the little crab with his own hands.

 **"** You! I've been waiting for this," he smirked.

He cracked his knuckles ready to pound the red crustacian to the dirt, but Sebastian quickly turned around and whistled loudly. Flounder then popped out of the shadows with a sea nut in fin and threw it right at the sharkanian. The sea nut hit the sharkanian square in the snout causing him to drop the eel. As the bag fell to the ground, it came undone and the eel was about to escape, but luckily Sebastian quickly tightened the knot closing the bag and keeping the eel inside.

Flounder then threw another sea nut. This time sharkanian ducked dodging it, but the sea nut bounced on the walls ricocheting until it smacked him on the back of his head stunning him and knocking him out cold. Sebastian and Flounder high-fived or in this case high-clawed and finned each other.

"Nice shot dere kid!" said Sebastian. "Guess dat playing around paid off."

"Thanks Sebastian," smiled Flounder. "Guess I was able to beat a Sharkanian after all."

* * *

The second sharkanian carefully made his way into King Triton's room. The king was sleeping soundly on his bed holding his trident with him. The sharkanian snickered thinking that this was going to be easy. He slowly entered the room and sneakily crept up to King Triton's sleeping body. He reached out his hand about to take the trident when suddenly, King Triton's eyes snapped open and he sat up pointing his trident right at the sharkanian threatening to blast him if he tried anything. Garret then came out.

"Nice try shark face, but we warned King Triton what you were up to," he spoke. "So your plan has backfired."

"B-but how could you have known?!" asked the sharkanian nervously.

Then Ariel came out. The sharkanian's eyes went wide as soon as he saw her. "But... how?! Why is the princess here?!" he cried.

"Needless to say, I escaped," replied Ariel.

* * *

Back out of the kingdom, Emperor Sharga and his army were still wating for the signal. Then suddenly, a bright golden light shone forth from the top of the palace. Emperor Sharga was feeling a bit worried.

"Was... that an eel flashing?" he asked doubtfully.

Then he along with the other sharkanians heard a pair of voices crying out in pain. It was the two sharkanians that inflitrated the palace. They were holding their rears yelping and screaming in pain and fear as they raced past Emperor Sharga and his army as fast as they could. Sharga and his commander looked at each other and then the commander broke the silence.

"I... don't think so, sire," gulped the commander sharkanian.

The light on top of the palace continued to shine brightly until it dimmed down and there on top of the palace, was King Triton holding his glowing trident proudly above his head. He then swam towards the sharkanian army and went on the attack repeatedlyunleahing powerful beams from his trident. The sharkanian army all screamed with terror as they fled not wanting to be hit by the blasts. Soon enough, Emperor Sharga was the only one left and he had no choice, but give his unconditional surrender.

* * *

The next day, things settled down for the time being. Ariel and the others had explained what had happened, but poor Sebastian was feeling very sorry for himself.

"I'm so sorry for everyting, your majesty," he apologized sadly. "I was a terrible ambassador and de Great Sebastian is not so great."

"What are you talking about, Sebastian?" spoke Flounder. "You're the greatest ambassador who ever lived... even though you almost didn't."

"Yeah Crabby, even though you let your ego get to you, you didn't let that stop you. And... you actually were pretty cool when you stood up to those sharkanians," said Garret.

"Yeah! You should've seen him, daddy!" Ariel spoke excitedly. "He marched right into Sharkania, and he told them; 'we must make peace, for de sake of de children' "

Sebastian began to cheer up a bit. "I did say dat, didn't I?" he said smiling.

 **"** Ooh, It gave me goosebumps!" Ariel added shivering.

King Triton raised a brow having his doubts, but a small smile worked its way under his beard. "Well, Sebastian does have a bigger heart than any crab I've ever known," he said.

Sebastian was embarrassed. "You know what they say, soft shell, soft heart." he said sheepishly.

 **"** And he was brave, too!" cut in Flounder. "Sharkania was all "grr" and I was "oh no", but Sebastian he was "I am going to make peace man-" "

"Now, now Flounder. That'll do," spoke King Triton raising his hand. "I've heard more than enough."

 **"** Please give Sebastian another chance, daddy," begged Ariel. "If it wasn't for him, we'd would have been in heaps of trouble."

King Triton hummed trying to decide what he should do. "Well... He did show a lot of nerve," he said thoughtfully. "And your friends believe in you..."

 **"** Yes. I got more nerve dan I deserve," commented Sebastian.

King Triton then smiled having to have finally make his decision. "All right then, Sebastian. You're still my right-hand crab." he said.

"Cool!"

"All right!"

"Way to go, Crabby!"

Ariel, Garret, and Flounder were overjoyed, but Sebsastian was especially happy.

"Oh, you will not regret dis your majesty," he said. "You know, I've been tinking, your majesty. Maybe you should have a personal bodyguard. I would look good in a uniform. And if I had a uniform, you would have something to pin dat medal upon."

"And there goes his ego," chuckled Garret rolling his eyes. "Guess he'll always be an egocentric crab, but he's our egocentric crab."


	15. Chapter 15

_Hey guys! Sorry if it's been a while, but here's another chapter for you!_

 _If you have any ideas for me, feel free to PM me._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 ** _Garret found himself drifting in the ocean's currents letting it carry him along.  
_**

 ** _It felt so peaceful and soothing as he drifted along. He then opened his eyes.  
_**

 ** _He saw nothing, but the blue waters of the ocean. He could see the sun's rays shining through the surface illuminating this strange yet beautiful space._**

 ** _He also found that he wasn't sporting his merman tail. Instead, he had his human legs and feet._**

 ** _"Am... Am I dreaming again?" he wondered. "If so... then why am I in the ocean? Normally I'd be outside of it... but not this time..."  
_**

 ** _Then he heard a sound drifting through the water. A sound that he had heard in his dreams before. The sound of a woman singing.  
_**

 ** _"That song again... It's just like before... Who is that?"_**

 ** _He looked around trying to see where the singing was coming from._**

 ** _Then he saw something dozens of feet away from him. Garret squinted trying to see what it was. At first, he couldn't quite tell who it was. So he decided to try and get closer._**

 ** _Using his legs and arms he swam closer and closer._**

 ** _As he did, the singing grew louder and he could see that the figure appeared to be a mermaid with a long wavy crop of red hair, but he couldn't her face due to the mermaid having her back turned._**

 ** _"Ariel? Is that you?" he called. "If so... what are you doing here in my dream?"_**

 ** _The mermaid stopped singing and slowly turned around. Her beautiful red hair waved about in the water hiding her face from view._**

 ** _Then she took off swimming getting as far away from Garret as possible._**

 ** _"Wait! Come back!" Garret called. "Ariel, wait!"_**

 ** _But it was no use. The mermaid was gone leaving him all alone once again._**

 ** _"What the heck was that about?" he wondered._**

 ** _Then suddenly, an ominous shadow loomed over Garret causing the boy to look up. His eyes then widened._**

 ** _Before him was a giant shadow reminiscent of another certain merperson. A male muscular one in fact._**

 ** _"You dare trespass in my waters, human?!" the shadow boomed. "Your kind is not welcome here!"_**

 ** _Garret's eyes widened in terror as the shadow glared at him with glowing red eyes of hate as it wielded a trident. Garret immediately knew who it was._**

 ** _"King Triton! Wait! I mean you no harm!" said Garret._**

 ** _"Liar! Why should I believe a human would mean no harm?!" the shadow snarled. "You humans care only for your selfish desires and destroy needlessly!"_**

 ** _Then the trident began to glow as the shadow took aim at Garret. The boy was now terrified._**

 ** _"No, your majesty! Don't! I''m not your enemy!"_**

 ** _"BEGONE, HUMAN!" the shadow roared as he prepared to unleash the power of his trident.  
_**

 ** _"YOUR MAJESTY! DON'T! PLEASE!"_**

* * *

Garret woke up with a fright his body shooting up from his bed. His heart was beating five times per second and he was panting like he was suffocating. After a few seconds, he calmed down.

"It was just a dream," he said to himself. "Just a dream..."

He looked around at his surroundings and found that he was in the same room where he was staying in Atlantica. He also looked under the covers and saw that he was still a merman. He then got out of bed and looked at his hands.

"Well... normally I'd be all sweaty after having a nightmare like that," he said to himself. "But since I'm underwater I guess there's no such thing as sweat." He then stretched his body after letting out a satisfying yawn. "Well, time to start another day," he said. "Even though I had a bit of a rocky morning."

Then he made his bed and got ready to start the day. Then he swam out of the room and headed down the hall. As he did, he couldn't help but think about the nightmare he had just experienced.

"Man... I wonder why I had that dream?" Garret thought. "I know that I had dreams before... but nothing like that."

He remembered the shadow that tried to blast him and felt a shiver go down his spine. He knew very well who the shadow resembled. Then he thought back to when he saw the mysterious mermaid with red hair.

"She looked just like Ariel, but... she didn't seem to be Ariel... I think," Garret thought to himself. "And this wasn't the first time I saw her either. Just who is that mermaid? Maybe... I can find some clues as to who she is."

Suddenly Garret bumped into someone causing him to look up. It was one of Ariel's sisters, the blonde with the red tail known as Arista.

"Hey! Watch where you're-" Arista spoke about to be cross, but then she realized who she bumped into. She immediately helped Garret up. "Whoops! Sorry, Garret. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," replied Garret. "Sorry for bumping into you, Arista."

"No, no. It was my fault," insisted Arista. "I was the one not watching where I was going."

The two of them then floated there in silence not really sure what to say next.

At last, Garret spoke up trying to break the awkward silence. "So... what brings you around here?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just... getting ready to go about my day," said Arista. "You?"

"Just woke up, to be honest," said Garret. "I... was just gonna get ready to go about my day too."

"Oh. Sounds... good," said Arista.

The two then floated there in silence once again. Then after floating there for what seems to be another long silence, then Garret once again broke the silence.

"Well... I uh... better get going," he said. "Got some... stuff to do."

And with that, Garret swam away going down the hallway. As he swam off, Arista tried to reach out to him before he was out of sight, but for some reason, her voice breath got caught in her throat and she said nothing. Garret soon disappeared from sight and Arista couldn't help but facepalm her self in the face.

"Nice going, Arista," she said to himself. "You made yourself look like a total geek! I mean 'what brings you around here'? Really? How lame is that?"

Then a couple of the other sisters came swimming up. Andrina and Aquata. When they saw their sister, they were a bit surprised to see her in her current state.

"Um... Arista? What are you doing?" asked Andrina.

Arista jumped. "Oh! Um... Nothing! Nothing at all! Just... swimming around!"

"You sure that it's nothing?" asked Aquata. "You're acting pretty weird. Did you take one of my things again without asking again?"

"No, it's nothing like that!" insisted Arista. "It's... it's... it's nothing OK."

Aquata and Andrina looked at each other and shrugged unsure what to say. Then Ariel came swimming down the hallway looking bright and cheerful.

"Morning," she greeted. "What's everyone doing in here?"

"Oh. Nothing much, Sis," said Arista. "I was just leaving. I... gotta brush my hair."

And with that, Arista swam away in a hurry leaving Ariel puzzled.

"What's wrong with Arista?" the red-head wondered. "Is something wrong with her?"

"Who knows?" shrugged Aquata. "Anyway, Ariel have you seen Garret?"

"I think he went down towards the throne room," said Ariel. "Why do you ask?"

Aquata then looked away pretending to be aloof. "Oh, nothing. No reason."

"Wait a second," said Andrina. "I've been looking for Garret too. I was hoping to get to know him a little bit and have him tell me about himself."

"Hey! That was what I was gonna do," said Aquata a bit taken aback. "I was hoping to find out a little more about him too. And hopefully get a better look at that tail of his.""

Ariel then raised a brow. "Um... didn't you already see it the other day?" she asked. "It's not that big of a deal."

"You only say that because you've been hanging around him the most, Ariel," said Aquata. "It's high time someone else had a turn with him."

"And that someone is going to be me," said Andrina. "I mean come on. I've got a lot of jokes and pranks I wanna introduce Garret too."

"You mean the jokes and pranks that are not funny?" spoke Aquata snootily.

"Like you have room to talk," scoffed Andrina. "At least I've got something that Garret would be interested in."

Not wanting to get involved in this, Ariel rolled her eyes and swam away heading to the dressing room to get started on her day.

* * *

Meanwhile, Garret was now swimming around the palace trying to find any clues to his dream. So far he saw nothing, but halls, halls, and more halls. He couldn't even tell where he was.

"Man... this is all so confusing," he thought. "I can't even tell where I am."

He looked around trying to see if there was anything familiar or recognizing, but he couldn't. Then he let out a sigh in defeat.

"Perhaps I should put the search for clues on hold for now," he said to himself. "Until then, maybe I should swim outside and see where I'm at and work my way from there. Now... I gotta find a window or something. I swear, couldn't King Triton make his palace just a tad smaller?"

But he had no reason to do that. As Garret looked around to find a window, a certain red crab came swimming about humming a little tune. As soon as Garret saw him, he called out to him.

"Hey! Crabby! Crabby!"

"Oh! Garret me boy," greeted Sebastian. "What bring you ta this end of the halls?"

"I uh... kinda got lost while looking for the main palace," Garret said. "You think that you could lead me to the main throne room? There are so many halls in here, I got lost pretty easily."

"No problem at all, kid. Why when I was a young crab, I do would get lost dese halls," said the red crab. "Just follow me. And stop calling me dat."

And so Sebastian swam down the hall leading on and Garret followed.

Soon enough, they came to the throne room where some of the sea creatures were going about their normal routine. Garret felt a bit relieved that he was no longer lost, but he felt a little bit disappointed.

"Oh well. I suppose I have to wait for another time to find any clues," Garret thought. "Until then, I should probably get back to my world soon. There's no telling how long I've been gone back there. Not to mention that I have school. I'll have to go back to the treasury and then pass through the mirror like before."

"Well, here we are kid." grinned Sebastian. "Da royal throne room. Now ta remember, if you ever get lost, make sure you make a right, den left, up, den left again. Got dat?"

"Oh! Um... yes. Got it," nodded Garret. "Thanks, Crabby."

He then looked around. He noticed that a certain king was missing from the throne room as his subjects bustled about getting ready for a new day. He also couldn't see Ariel either.

"Say Crabby, do you know where Ariel is?" wondered Garret. "I don't see her anywhere."

"First of all, stop calling me dat!" said Sebastian. "And second, dat girl's probably on freshening herself up as we speak along with her sisters. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Just curious," said Garret.

"This could be a good opportunity," thought Garret. "I'll just leave a little bit and then come back a little later. I might as well take advantage while the king's not around. Not to mention Ariel's sisters are a little... weird."

"Hey Crabby," he spoke aloud. "I'm got some business to take care of. If Ariel or anyone asks, tell them that I'll be out for a little bit and don't wait up for me for breakfast."

Sebastian was a bit surprised. "Wait... what do you mean business?" he asked.

But before he could say anything else, Garret had already swum off leaving him behind.

"Oh man. What is with dat boy?" the red crab wondered to himself. "He's getting ta be as strange as Ariel."

* * *

Garret carefully made his way outside of the palace making sure that no one saw him. Then like he did the other day, he swam up towards the upper levels of the palace until he came to the royal treasury. He looked around making sure that no one was around. Most especially, King Triton. When the coast was clear, he quietly swam into the treasury looking around.

"Now... let's see... I know that mirror's around here somewhere," he said to himself. "I may have seen it once... but I know it's here."

He looked around carefully trying to find it, but he saw nothing but gold, jewels, and many other valuable things.

"That's strange," Garret said aloud. "I could have sworn that mirror was in here. Where did it go?"

Then in the corner, he saw what he was looking for. There lying in the corner was the mirror with the teal gem. Garret looked around making sure one more time that no one was around in the treasury. Then he swam up to the mirror. He then reached out about to touch the surface of the mirror when he suddenly felt a shiver go down his back.

Thinking that he was sensing danger, he immediately jumped his heart leaping about ten feet and his blood going cold. He immediately ducked behind a pile of treasure and hid. He then stayed silent hoping that whoever saw him would go away and think that they saw nothing. He then peeked out and he felt his eyes widen with horror.

Entering the vault was King Triton himself with the seahorse herald and a couple of soldiers in tow. As soon as he saw King Triton's face, Garret immediately remembered the shadow from his dream resembling him.

"Oh crap! What the heck is he doing here?!" Garret screamed in his mind. "Of all the rotten luck! If I don't get the heck out of here, I don't even wanna know what King Triton would do to me!"

"Let's see here..." said the herald thoughtfully as he took out a scroll. "According to the royal agenda your majesty, it's time to count the amount of gold in your royal treasury."

"Are you sure that's what it says?" wondered the king. "I don't exactly remember such a thing on the royal agenda."

"That is what it says, your majesty," said the herald. "You said that we should check your valuables every day in case of thieves. You never know when someone would attempt to try and steal from your treasury or if someone could be lurking in the treasury as we speak."

"Yes. I suppose you're right," spoke King Triton. "Very well then. Let's get this over with." He then turned towards his soldiers. "You stand outside. Make sure no one comes in."

"Yes sir!" said the soldiers.

Garret gulped in with fright as the soldiers left and King Triton swam in with his herald starting to count the treasures. He felt his breath quicken and his heart beating like a jackhammer. He stayed behind a pile of gold trying to stay as hidden as possible. He slowly peeked out trying to see and much to his disdain, he could see that King Triton and the herald were beside the mirror blocking his escape route.

"Darn it! They're too close to the mirror. Not only that, but if I try to leave I'll be caught by the guards," Garret thought. "What do I do? Think Garret think!"

The merboy looked around trying to come up with a way to make a distraction, but as he went back into hiding behind the gold coins, some of them came off its pile fell to the ground making a clinking noise. Garret immediately gulped as he covered his hands over his mouth. Then he swam to another pile of gold a few feet away from the one he was hiding from afraid that King Triton and his herald heard him. Luckily they didn't.

Then King Triton and his herald swam to a trunk a few feet away from the mirror. Seeing this as a chance, Garret stealthily sneaked behind another pile of treasure and peeked out.

"Come on... just little bit more," he thought.

"Come on... just little bit more," he thought.

Then King Triton swam away a few more feet from the mirror. Seeing his chance and making sure that no one was watching, Garret swam up to the mirror and touched the surface of it. The teal gem began to glow and the surface grew murky and watery. Not wanting to stick around and not wait for the bubbles, Garret immediately swam through the mirror and disappeared into its surface.

* * *

King Triton and the herald then stopped taking notice of the sudden glow.

"What is that?" wondered the herald.

King Triton then swam over to investigate. He saw nothing, but the mirror which had stopped glowing. As he gazed into the mirror, he couldn't help but feel somewhat confused. Then he placed a hand on the surface of the mirror looking somewhat wistful.

"Is... something the matter your majesty?" asked the herald.

The king then looked back towards the herald. "It's nothing," he said. "Just deep in thought. Now let's continue."


	16. Chapter 16

In the real world, the mirror once again began to glow as it unleashed a torrent of water forming a dome as Garret emerged from it. The water went back to the mirror, and Garret found himself once again in the real world. His heart was still pounding.

"Phew. That was too close for comfort," Garret

said to himself. "If King Triton saw me, he would have blasted me into ashes."

He then walked out of the room to the attic and shut the door behind him being as quiet as he could. He then made his way to the ladder and slowly opened the door looking around. The hallway was as dark as he saw it when he left.

"It must still be night," he thought to himself. "Better stay quiet, so I don't wake up anybody."

Then very slowly and carefully, he lowered the ladder. It quietly creaked as it came down until it finally touched down on the ground. He then climbed down and put away the ladder.

He tiptoed down the hallway towards his room. As he did, he passed by Lucy's room. He looked inside making sure that Lucy was still asleep. Sure enough, she was sleeping peacefully in her bed unaware of his presence.

He then tiptoed past until he finally came to the door of his room. He was just about to open his door when he heard a groaning sound which was coming down the hall.

Garret froze and looked down the hall. Then sensing that it was one of his parents waking up, he quickly opened the door to his room and darted inside shutting it just as fast but quietly behind him. He then hurried to his bed diving into the covers pulling them over his head pretending to be asleep.

His heart was pounding in his chest, and he didn't dare breathe in case someone came into his room.

A few tense minutes had passed. Then Garret slowly peered out from the covers. He could see that his door remained shut and from the cracks of it, it remained dark.

"Whew. I'm safe," Garret thought. "Geez. You'd think that with all these times, I'd be caught by now. Well, since that I'm back, I might as well try to get some sleep. I've got another day of school to get through."

He then wiggled around a bit making himself comfortable; then he fell fast asleep."

* * *

"Garret! It's time to get up for school!"

Garret opened a sleepy eye to the sound of his mother's voice. He wanted to go back to sleep, but he knew that it wouldn't be right especially on a school day, so sleepily sat up and rubbed his eyes. Then he let out a big yawn while stretching his limbs.

"Alright. Time for another day of school," he mumbled.

He got out of bed and slowly went over to his closet and got his outfit for the day which was a t-shirt with a pair of jeans. Then he slowly walked towards the bathroom so that he could take a shower. As he walked, his sister Lucy came out just finishing brushing her teeth. She was surprised to see Garret in his current state.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked.

"I'm just... sleepy," Garret yawned.

"That's not like you," Lucy said. "Usually you're up immediately."

"I just had a rough night is all," said Garret. "Don't worry, Sis, I'm fine. I'll wake up in the shower. Good morning by the way."

And with that, Garret walked into the bathroom shutting and locking the door behind him. Lucy was at first a bit curious as to why her older brother was so tired, but she then she decided not to worry.

"He's probably just more tired than usual," she said.

She then went about her way.

* * *

Garret was now in the shower letting the water's warm temperature warm up his body.

"Man, this is heaven," he sighed with content. "You know, it's the little things in life that make them all the more enjoyable. I wonder if Ariel and the other merpeople ever take any baths or showers?" He then shook his head. "Nah. Probably not considering that they're already in the water, there would be no point in having baths or showers. It's a shame though. They don't know what they're missing."

He showered for about ten more minutes or so until he finally got out. He got dressed, brushed his teeth, and made sure that he was fit as a fiddle.

* * *

After that, Garret went down to the table where his sister Lucy was at the table eating some cereal and his mother Charlotte was sitting on the opposite end of the table looking through her emails on her phone. Garret walked into the kitchen, went to the cupboard getting a few loaves of bread, and popped the pieces of bread into the toaster.

The toaster then popped, and Garret took his freshly made toast and slathered some butter on it and munched on it as he sat on the table.

Charlotte then looked up. "Oh, good morning, Garret," she said.

"Morning, Mom," replied Garret.

"You seem to be looking better today," said Charlotte.

"Not really. You should've seen Bro when he was getting up," snickered Lucy. "He looked like a zombie bit him."

Garret paid no attention to his sister's comment. "I was feeling a bit groggy this morning," he said. "But I'm OK. Awake and ready for school."

"That's good," smiled Charlotte. "Glad to hear it. Now, make sure you eat and are ready for school. We'll be leaving in a few minutes."

"Got it, Mom," said Garret and Lucy.

"By the way, Garret," said Charlotte. "What about your problem the other day? Did you find the answer you were looking for to fix it?"

Garret then smiled at his mom. "Yes. I did," he replied. "And thank you for helping me with that the other day, Mom. I appreciated your advice."

Charlotte then smiled warmly. "Anytime, son. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask your father or me."

"I will," Garret said smiling back.

Lucy couldn't help but overhear the conversation and was a bit curious. "What are you and Garret talking about, Mom?" she asked.

"It's nothing you need to be concerned with, Lucy," Charlotte said. "You'll understand when you're a little older, dear. In the meantime, let's go kids. I gotta get both of you to school."

And as soon as they finished with breakfast, Garret, Charlotte, and Lucy were on their way en route to their respective places for the day.

* * *

Garret was soon dropped off of school and he was sitting in his seat waiting for class to begin. As he waited, he had his nose buried deep in a book. He was reading the book about mermaids that he picked up in the library the other day.

The book had a lot of facts about them. Some of them were good and some of them were bad. Whatever the book had, Garret was enjoying himself.

Then he heard the sound of laughter. Not the kind that was from hearing a joke or having fun. It was the kind of laughter that was teasing. He glanced over and noticed a couple guys that were laughing at another student. At first, he didn't know what they were laughing about, but then he saw the reason. In the middle of the three guys, there was another boy who was looking down on the ground feeling my embarrassed and miserable. Garret felt bad for the boy, but he kept his mouth shut not saying another word.

"Just ignore them, Garret," he said to himself. "It's got nothing to do with you."

He then continued to read without saying another word. Then he heard someone come up to his desk causing him to glance up.

Before him was the leader of the group of boys. He was a young boy., easy on the eyes, had short blonde hair, and wore clothes that may have been normal, but they also looked expensive too.

"Hey, you. Your name's Garret, right?" he said. "What's a guy like you doing with your nose buried in a book like this?"

"Because I want to read and learn some things," Garret replied his eyes not leaving his book. "Is that a problem?"

Then the guy forcibly pushed the book on his desk making it flat causing Garret to look up at him.

"Yes, it is. It's not right for a guy such as yourself to be reading as you are," the boy went on. "First, you get ideas and think about stuff too much and the next thing you know, you end up as a nerd. And you don't want to end up being a nerd, otherwise, you'll end up attracting... certain characters if you get my drift."

The young man then motioned to the right and Garret saw three other boys a few desks away from him leering and trying to be intimidating. Not intimidated in the slightest, Garret looked back at the young man.

"I appreciate the concern, but I think I'll take my chances thank you," he said. "And just because someone would rather read books than to do whatever you guys think a guy should do, doesn't make them a nerd. I would prefer the term 'educationally mindful.' Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my book, please."

Garret then moved his book away from the boy's grip and went back to reading. The young boy feeling a bit insulted was about to say something, when the teacher came in.

"Alright, class. Take your seats."

Everyone naturally went back to their seats and Garret put away his book letting out a sigh.

"And here we go with another day at school," he said to himself. "A day with the same old classes and the same old people."

He looked out the window as the teacher began the class letting his mind wander and drift. He then thought about the world of Atlantica and about Ariel and the others.

"I wonder if any merpeople go through the same things that I do?" he wondered to himself. "And I also wonder if they had days like mine where I wish that things could be a bit different?"

He then returned his gaze towards the teacher as the teacher continued his class.

* * *

Back in the world below the sea, on the outskirts of Altantica, the sea was calm and peaceful. The seaweed danced in the current, and the fish swam about minding their own business.

It seemed to be another day in the world of Atlantica. But then, two sea creatures came swimming along of which were not from this part of the sea.

One was a small itty bitty little shrimp with big yellow eyes and had a small blue hat on top of its head which was a blue shell.

The other was a slightly bigger than average purple lobster of which was also wearing a blue seashell for a hat.

The lobster swam over on top of a large rock and scowled as he looked around trying to be intimidating.

"I'm taking over this rock, see?" he spoke with a New York accent.

Then he saw a strand of seaweed drifting in the current which made him snatch it in his claw.

"And... I'm taking over this uh... seaweed, see?" the lobster said again.

At that moment, a fishing net came floating down from the surface and landed right on top of the lobster, but the lobster pretended to pay no mind.

"And... I'm taking over this fishing net, see?" he said.

Then the net tug upwards not only closing but also whisked away the lobster up and away and heading towards the surface. Luckily, the lobster's friend the shrimp saw that its friend was in trouble, so he immediately swam after him and helped him get free of the net just in time.

"Boss, we gotta take something over before Crab Louie gets here," the shrimp said. "I mean, after all, he'll wanna move in on our territory. But we won't have no territory for him to move in on. It'll be... embarrassin."

The lobster then glared at the shrimp getting so close that he was nose to nose with him.

"Listen, Da Shrimp, we'll take over somethin', see?" he said. "Or my name isn't The Lobster Mobster."

The two then swam on trying to see if there was anything that they could take over for their boss. Soon enough, they came to a cave. Thinking that it was empty and it would be a good place for them to take, they swam right in. But little did they know, someone was already in that cave.

As they swam inside, they saw that inside, there was a hammock that was held up by an anchor and a rock, a large crystal which was lighting up the whole place, and a giant clam.

Then as they ventured further inside, they gasped for a large shadow crept across the walls in front of them.

Thinking that it was some large sea creature, the two immediately dove behind the clam hiding from whatever was coming.

But to their surprise, the creature that made the shadow wasn't a large creature. It was a young merboy carrying a small gray sack which had seashells inside.

He was about Ariel or Garret's age, was skinny, lean, had a green tail, blue eyes, white skin, and had short blonde hair with a long strand at the back that curled a bit upwards.

"Wh-who are you?" asked The Lobster Mobster nervously.

"I live in this crabhole. The name's Urchin," the merboy barked gruffly. "What are you mobsters doing in my house?"

"Us? Why, uh, we're here to um, see your parents, yeah," The Lobster Mobster quickly lied.

"I don't have any parents," Urchin spoke as he dumped his load from his sack into the clam.

The Lobster Mobster was surprised. "You don't have no parents?" he asked.

"I do fine all by myself," Urchin spoke trying to sound tough.

"You mean you live here all alone?" continued The Lobster Mobster.

Urchin sadly nodded. Now The Lobster Mobster and the Da Shrimp couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Urchin. Da Shrimp felt so sorry for the poor merboy that he took off his hat in respect and tried his best not to cry. The Lobster Mobster felt sorry too, but he was more interested in taking over Urchin's cave for Crab Louie, so he didn't feel sorry for long.

"Then... we're taking over this place, see?" he said getting up in Urchin's face.

Urchin was not intimidated nor was he willing to let these Mobsters take over his cave. He put up his fists ready to fight.

"Oh yeah?! Well, I'd like to see you try it!" he spoke bravely. "Put up your claws!"

Now, The Lobster Mobster may have been an underling for Crab Louie, but he wasn't much of a fighter. He knew that Urchin would surely beat him if they fought, so he decided to try another approach. He was going to try and use Urchin for his purpose.

"Take it easy, kid. Now, now. Take it easy," he spoke trying not to be nervous. "I was just testing, um, you, yeah, to see if you had nerve."

"Nerve?" repeated Urchin.

"Yeah, enough nerve to join my mob," smiled The Lobster Mobster.

Urchin's face immediately brightened. "You mean you want to be friends?" he asked hopefully.

"In the mob, you're more than friends," spoke The Lobster Mobster kindly. "You're like brothers."

"Aw, that's sweet, boss," Da Shrimp smiled.

Then The Lobster Mobster pulled out mug shots of himself and Da Shrimp and Da Shrimp even drew a picture of Urchin in a gangster style get-up as the two began to sing.

* * *

 **Lobster Mobster**

 _It's as if a dream_  
 _You'd be part of a team_  
 _That would make you somebody_  
 _So full of esteem_

 _To get all tanked up_  
 _Big plans and big schemes_  
 _To make you a big fish_

 **Da Shrimp**

 _The creme de la creams_

 **Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp**  
 _In the Lobster Mobster's Mob_

The two then were surrounded by imaginary treasure chests filled with gold, diamonds, and jewels pulling Urchin with their crazy world.

 **Lobster Mobster:**  
 _You'll have gold_

 **Da Shrimp:**  
 _By the gob_

They then encounter a crab and a clam. The Lobster Mobster takes the shell of the isopod, and Da Shrimp takes the pearl the clam has. Both creatures were very cross at having their things stolen, but they play it off as they sing pretending they didn't take their valuables.

 **Lobster Mobster:**  
 _You can steal, you can rob_  
 _So you's don't need no job_

 **Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp:**  
 _In the Lobster Mobster's Mob_

Suddenly, a big fish with large teeth comes along and clamps the two into its mouth. However, the fish didn't swallow them, and its teeth were like the bars of a prison cell as The Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp sit inside without a care in the world as Urchin peers inside.

 **Lobster Mobster:**  
 _So what if you ends up inside of the slammer_  
 _You's don't have to listen to nobody's yammer_  
 _You'd wear dirty socks and week-old pajamas_

 **Da Shrimp**  
 _And the best part of all is_ you's _uses bad grammars_

 **Lobster Mobster**  
 _Uses bad grammars_

The big fish then spits out the two, and the three were now in a sunken ship. The Lobster Mobster holds a big glob of some unknown substance only to have it land on Da Shrimp's head causing Urchin to laugh.

 **Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp:**  
 _In the Lobster Mobster's Mob_

 **Lobster Mobster:**  
 _Caviar?_

 **Da Shrimp:**  
 _Just a glop_

 **Lobster Mobster:**  
You's _can act like a snob_  
 _When you live like a slob_

The sunken ship then collapses around them making the audience see black. Then three spotlights shine on them as the three dance on stage. Then the spotlights then shine on The Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp as sirens begin to wail. The two then swim away trying to escape as Urchin continues to dance.

 **Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp:**  
 _In the Lobster Mobster's Mob_  
 _In the Lobster Mobster's Mob_

As they hold the last note, the spotlight shines on them as they raise their claws and fins in the air surrendering as the song ends.

* * *

Urchin was now very happy to finally have found friends. "So, now I'm in your mob, what do we do?" he asked eagerly.

"We play a game," replied The Lobster Mobster.

"Oh boy! What kind of game?" Urchin asked again eagerly.

"It's a game called... the new guy steals dinner," said The Lobster Mobster with a grin.

Urchin raised a brow now feeling doubtful. "Steal? I don't know..."

"Hey, kid, remember, you're in the mob now," said The Lobster Mobster. "And those in the mob do things for their friends. And we're your friends right?"

"Right?" added Da Shrimp bating his eyes pleadingly.

Now Urchin wasn't a merboy who correctly raised in the ways of right or wrong, but he desperately didn't want to let down his new friends as he did want to thank them, so he decided to do as they asked.

"Yeah. Yeah. One home-cooked meal from someone else's home coming up," he said as he grabbed his sack and swam out of the cave.

The Lobster Mobster was pleased, but Da Shrimp still was a bit worried.

"Uh, boss, we still got to take over something before Crab Louie gets here," he said.

"Yeah, well, we already did, see?" said The Lobster Mobster said smiling an evil smile. "We took over the kid.

* * *

 _If you liked what you read, feel free to Review or PM me!_

 _Dragoman, signing off!_


	17. Chapter 17

School was almost out and Garret was ready and waiting to get out of the classroom and back home. Soon the final bell began to ring and school was finally over. The students all got out of their seats all left the classroom ready to head home. Garret just got up from his seat and was heading out of the school to meet his mom, so she could pick him up. As he walked, he stretched out his arms getting the sleepiness out of them.

"Finally. I thought I'd never get out of that classroom," he said to himself. "The only downside being is that I've got homework to do. Guess I'd better get home and get it done, so I'll stop complaining."

He was walking down the hall about to head outside when he saw the boys from his class again. Only this time, they were talking to another boy and a girl both of which appeared to be a bit uncomfortable. Garret had no idea what that kid and his friends were up to, but he didn't dare want to get involved, so he kept on walking. Then as he walked by, a sudden puff of smoke wafted into his face causing him to cough. The boys then laughed and the boy and the girl began to laugh too. Garret then looked back a bit cross to see that the blonde boy was holding a cigar in his hand.

"What's the matter? Don't like a bit of smoke?" the blonde boy asked mockingly.

"M-Maybe he's just a wimp and he's gonna cry to his momma," the boy said.

"Yeah! A wimp and a bookworm!" the girl added.

Garret glared not liking being name-called and not having cigarette being blown at him. He was just about to say something when he noticed a couple of the students looking at him. This made him stop and think. Then after a few seconds of silence and not wanting to draw attention to himself, he turned around and walked away. The boys snickered and laughed, but he just kept on walking.

"It's not worth messing with those guys," he said to himself. "The last thing I was is to draw attention. Especially when it comes to people like that. It's not worth it."

Garret had now walked outside of the school where he saw his mother waiting for him in the car. He ran over to the car and got in.

"Hey, Mom," greeted Garret.

"Hello, son," Charlotte greeted back. "How was school today?"

Garret didn't want to say anything about what had just happened, so he gave his mom a slight smile.

"Same as usual," replied Garret. "Same old class, same old stuff."

"How are things going between you and your friends?" continued Charlotte.

"Oh. Everything's going great," replied Garret. "My friends and I are doing just fine."

"That's good," said Charlotte. "So tell me, what are your friends like? You never did mention anything about them when you talked to me the other day."

Knowing that she was talking about Ariel and the others, Garret felt himself flinch. He knew that he really couldn't say anything about them, so he decided to tell his mom about them when it came to their personality.

"Well, one of them is a girl. She's known to be quite adventurous, brave, and pretty stubborn," said Garret. "But she's also kind, good with animals, and she's got a pretty good singing voice."

"Oh my," said Charlotte. "Very interesting."

"The second is a boy. He's a bit of a fraidy cat and he always tries to get us out of situations," went on Garret. "But he's pretty good at impressions and he's as loyal as loyal can get even though he has a habit of getting himself in trouble."

Charlotte nodded. "Go on."

"Let's see... the last one is a bit on the uptight side, a kiss-up, and he's always nagging on us to stay out of trouble," continued Garret. "However, he's only like that because he cares about us and he doesn't want any of us to get hurt, so he's a good person too. Although, I wish he'd stop being so crabby all the time. Then again, that's why I call him Crabby."

"Sounds like you have quite the interesting group of friends," said Charlotte. "I hope I get to meet them sometime."

"Maybe you will Mom," Garret spoke trying not to be nervous. "Maybe you will."

* * *

Soon enough, Garret and Charlotte pulled up to the driveway arriving at home. When they got there, they went inside the house and Garret headed up to his room.

"Mom, I'm gonna go do my homework," he called.

"Alright. I'll let you know when it's time for dinner," said Charlotte. "Make sure you get it done."

"I will."

Then Garret went into his room shutting the door behind him. He stretched and then let out a deep breath.

 _"Alright then. Time for me to get this homework done."_

He sat on his bed and pulled out his books and got started. First, he had to finish a couple of worksheets in math, then he had to read a chapter from a book that was assigned to him, and finally, he had to study a bit for an upcoming test. It was a bit much for a middle schooler, but not for Garret.

"Well, let's get this started," Garret said to himself. "This homework isn't gonna do itself."

He set to work by starting with his math homework. It was basically a couple of worksheets that needed completing. The problems on it were pretty average when it came to difficulty, but it was no problem for Garret. Within about twenty minutes or so, he finished up the worksheets.

He then got started reading his book. It was a book the whole class had been assigned to and one Garret loved very much. It was called: Ready Player One. Long story short, it was about a boy surviving in the year of 2044 in a virtual utopia known as the OASIS. When they started reading it, Garret couldn't help but fall in love with the book and enjoyed reading every aspect and element of the story. Soon enough, he finished reading a chapter of the book.

Now all he had to do was study for the test which was covering history. The history of the Greek history of all things. It wasn't his strongest subject, but he knew he had to study in order for him to improve on the subject. He dug into his bag, pulled out his history book, and then started studying. As he skimmed over the important things that his teacher was covering, he made sure to remember them by writing them down in his notebook. Then as he skimmed even further, his eyes happened to fall upon a particular part of a page that caught his interest. It was a passage about Triton the god of the sea.

 ** _"Triton is one of the mythical Greek gods, and he is the son of Amphitrite and Poseidon. Triton's parents were the god and goddess of the sea, and Triton himself acted as his father's herald. That is why he is often called the messenger of the sea. When depicted artistically, Triton is usually painted as a classic 'merman'. He has the upper body of a man, but the tail of a large fish._ _Far underneath the sea was the golden palace where Triton and his parents lived and ruled. The original myth portrayed the Aegean as the home of the sea gods, but the location has moved from place to place as history evolved."_**

This made him think about the Triton that he knew back in the world at Atlantica.

 _"Just goes to show how much the Triton I know is eerily similar to the Triton that humans know,"_ Garret thought. _"It does make me wonder the history here is different or the same back there."_

Garret then started to think about King Triton and his daughters and the two mirrors that were in his treasury and in his attic and the paragraph he read. It made him curious and think about his family. He knew that King Triton was a single father, but it wasn't always like that right? If that was true, then who was the mother?

Then Garret suddenly remembered the dream he had. The one he had about the singing red-haired mermaid. He only had that dream twice now, but he could well remember it as if he had it yesterday. He could see it in his head; the red hair, the beautiful voice, and how she kept swimming away. It made him start to think.

 _"I wonder... could that mermaid possibly be..." he began to think to himself._

But then, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a faint voice.

"Garret! Dinner's ready!"

Garret then looked at the clock which read five thirty p.m..

"Wow. Time flies when you're busy," he said to himself. "Coming, Mom!"

He then got out of his bed and headed downstairs to go eat dinner.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the world of Atlantica in the girl's room, the daughters of Triton were all primped and preened making sure they looked nice. Attina, Alana, Aquata, and Adella were at their respective mirrors while Andrina and Arista had just finished.

"There. Now I'm ready," smiled Arista. "Totally fabulous."

"We're sure to blow some of the boys away at the Neptune Ball," said Andrina. "And most especially, Garret. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he asked me to dance with him."

"Hey! No fair! That was my idea!" complained Adella. "I wanted to dance with Garret at the ball!"

"Now, girls. There's really no need to fight," said Arista. "Why do you two even want Garret in particular? There are lots of other merboys out there."

"As if you didn't already know," said Adella. "Garret's not like the other merboys. He's... unique."

"Yeah. I mean that tail of his is so cool!" Said Andrina. "Not to mention he's super cute! Besides, you were planning to dance with him too you know."

Arista blushed a bit. "No I wasn't!" she protested.

"Take it easy, girls. There's honestly no reason to fight especially over something so trivial," soothed Attina. "Besides, if there's anyone that Garret's going with, it's a pretty safe bet that it's most likely with Ariel."

"I'll have to agree with you on that one," said Alana. "You know how close those two are. They're always together, but then again Ariel's not exactly the kind of girl that's interested in balls and such. Speaking of which, where is she?"

"She's probably playing with Flounder," said Aquata. "But... now that you mention it, I haven't seen Garret either. I wonder where he is."

"Who knows, but when I find him, I'm gonna ask him if he wants to go!" said Adella.

"No way! Not if I ask him first!" said Andrina.

And the two swam away eagerly searching for Garret. Attina could only sigh and shake her head.

"Isn't there any one in this family that's not boy crazy?" she wondered aloud.

Arista paid no attention as she brushed her hair. She was still thinking about her encounter with Garret earlier this morning. The thought of it made her feel a little bit embarrassed. She especially wanted to get to talk to Garret or at least ask him to the ball later that afternoon, but she honestly didn't know how to.

"If only I didn't mess up this morning," she thought to herself. "At least then I wouldn't have ended up acting like such a geek. Bet Garret thinks I'm a weirdo now."

Aquata could see that her sister was a bit glum. "Hey, Arista. Is something wrong? You look sad."

Arista jumped and pretended not to be sad. "Um... nothing! I'm fine!" she said. "Just peachy keen!"

* * *

In another part of the palace, Ariel was swimming around looking for Garret. She had searched high and low for him even looking in his room, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I wonder where Garret could be?" she wondered to herself. "Maybe he's at the throne room?"

She then swam towards the throne room just making her way there when Flounder swam up.

"Hey there, Ariel," greeted the fish. "Whatcha doing?"

"I was just looking for Garret," said Ariel. "I haven't seen him since yesterday. By the way, have you seen him, Flounder?"

"Nope. I haven't," said Flounder. "I thought he'd be with you. I was hoping that we'd be able to play tag together."

"Well... I'm sure that he'll turn up eventually," said Ariel. "In the meantime, what do you say we play some tag while we look for him?"

"Sounds great!" smiled Flounder as he lightly tapped Ariel with his fin. "Tag! You're it!"

He then swam away and with a giggle, Ariel followed in hot pursuit as their game of tag began.

* * *

Eventually, Garret had finished his dinner and went back to studying. He went on for about an hour or so before he grew bored and shut his book. He laid back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling just letting his mind wander and drift.

"Man... what to do... what to do..." he mumbled to himself. "I'm sure that I've got no other homework to do and I'm sure that I'll ace that test tomorrow."

He then decided to get ready for bed and by brushing his teeth and taking a shower. He walked down the hall and into the bathroom. He then lathered up some toothpaste on his toothpaste and then started brushing his teeth. As he brushed, he started to think about Ariel and the others and couldn't help but think and wonder if they did the same things he did every day.

 _"I wonder if Ariel and the others ever brush their teeth and stuff like that. Then again, they're in the water constantly, so they really have no reason for them to brush their teeth I guess."_

He then spit into the sink as rinsed his mouth.

"I guess that's something I'll have to ask Ariel when I go back," he said to himself. "Hopefully, she can shed some light on that subject even though it's kinda silly. I wonder if she even does homework over there?"

"What are you talking about?" asked a voice. "And who's Ariel?"

Garret immediately jumped and snapped his head to the doorway. There standing there was Lucy. As soon as he saw her, Garret felt his body freeze in place like he had turned into a complete statue.

Lucy raised a brow as she stared at her brother. "Well? Who were you talking about, Garret?" she asked.

"Um... well... " said Garret. "I was... talking about a friend from school. Wait... how long were you standing there?"

"Around the part where you were talking about asking someone named Ariel something," said Lucy. "So who is she?"

"Nobody important," said Garret quickly. "Just a friend from school."

"A friend from school?" Lucy said a smile making its way to her lips. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Garret then sighed. "No. She is not. Where did you even get such an idea?"

"Come on, Bro. I'm only teasing you," Lucy said. "But I will say this much, you seem to be acting a bit stranger than usual. In fact, you've been acting weird for a couple of days now. You OK?"

"I'm fine. Besides, I'm your brother. I'm supposed to act weird," said Garret. "Now if you don't mind, I gotta take a shower. You should be getting ready for bed."

Lucy shrugged and went on her way. "Whatever you say, Weirdo."

As soon as Lucy was out of sight, Garret let out a sigh of relief.

 _"Oh boy. That was a close one. I thought for sure she heard me talking about Atlantica,"_ he thought. _"I gotta make sure to be careful when I talk about Atlantica. Otherwise, she'll get nosy and that'll just pile on trouble. In the meantime, I better take a shower and once everyone goes to sleep, I'll head back to Atlantica. Ariel and the others were probably wondering where I went."_

He then shut the bathroom door as he turned on the water starting his shower.

* * *

Urchin was making his way to Atlantica carrying his sack in hand. He was feeling a bit excited as he swam along the current.

 _"I sure hope I can find enough food for the boss,"_ he thought. _"Then again, I should be more worried about where I'm going to find some."_

He was still feeling a bit worried about stealing food for The Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp, but he didn't want to lose his new friends. Soon enough, he could see the Atlantica in sight, the palace gleaming bright in the ocean sun. Urchin stopped and couldn't help but gaze towards the palace admiring it with wonder. Then he shook his head snapping out of his daze.

 _"No time to be looking at the sights, Urchin," he said to himself. "Gotta stay focused."_

He then kept on swimming heading towards the city of Atlantica while also at the same time making sure that he kept on eye out for any food. If there was any, he would make sure that his friends would get some of that food at any cost. No matter what he had to steal.

* * *

 _FYI, the passage that was italic and bold was from greek gods and goddesses. net_

 _If you liked what you read, feel free to follow, Review, or PM me._


	18. Chapter 18

_It certainly has been a while, b_ _ut here's the next chapter, my fellow mermaid fans!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Urchin soon made his way inside of Atlantica swimming up close the Royal Palace. He searched all around trying to find any form of food, but he couldn't find any. Then Urchin heard the sound of laughter causing him to hide immediately so no one would see him. He peered out of his hiding place and saw a certain female re-headed mermaid and a yellow and blue fish swimming just outside the Royal Treasure Vault laughing while playing a rousing game of tag.

"Gotcha!" giggled Ariel as she tapped Flounder by the back of his fin. "You're it!"

"Hey!" Flounder laughed. "I'm gonna get you, Ariel!"

Ariel then swam around the other side of the vault hiding from view. This gave Flounder an idea. He quickly hid behind one of the decorating spikes on the roof as Ariel came back. She looked around trying to see where Flounder went to, but she couldn't find him. Finally, Flounder came out from his hiding place and tapped Ariel by her tail fin.

"Tag! You're it!" he laughed as he swam away.

"Pretty sneaky, Flounder," laughed Ariel as she swam after him in hot pursuit.

Urchin watched as Ariel and Flounder continued the play feeling somewhat jealous of the two, wishing that he could play with them too. He swam a little closer as he continued to watch the two having fun. Then as Flounder and Ariel circled the vault again, Flounder looked in front of him in time to see a cross Sebastian standing on top of one of the spikes. He tried to stop himself, but it was too late as he bumped straight into him knocking him off. Luckily, Ariel managed to catch Sebastian just before he fell. As she placed him back on the spike, Sebastian spoke sternly to her.

"Ariel, you're going ta be late for de Neptune Ball! De food is laid out, de guests are arriving, and you're out here playing tag around de king's treasure vault!"

"Oh, alright, Sebastian," sighed Ariel. "Just one more tag." She then mischievously smirked as she gave him a light tap on his head. "You're it."

Then she and Flounder swam away leaving Sebastian very cross.

"I am most certainly not it!" he snapped. "And no such foolishness at de Neptune Ball!"

Urchin who was still not too far away had heard everything that Sebastian had said about the Neptune Ball and saw this as an opportunity. The Neptune Ball was the perfect place to steal food. There was bound to be plenty of food from him to take, and if he could get his hands on some, that would make the Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp very happy. That and it would also fill up his hungry belly. He then swam off as he began making his plan.

* * *

Back in the human world, Garret was fast asleep snoring away. He was looking forward to getting a good night's sleep and waking up to another ordinary day. However, Garret would soon learn that his hopes for that alone would be dashed. For he heard a familiar sound of singing which after a few minutes woke him up.

"Come on, Lucy... Just a few more minutes," he sleepily mumbled as he sat up in his bed. "I know I have a school day, but I still got time..."

He then realized what the sound was and grew more awake.

"The mirror!" he gasped.

He flung the covers off of his body and quickly and quietly made his way up to the attic. He soon came into the room where the mirror was and peered inside. The mirror was emitting the same singing voice as before, and the teal colored gem was flashing on and off brightly.

"What the heck? It's never done that before," Garret said to himself. "I wonder why it's doing that? Maybe something is going on in Atlantica or something?"

As the teal continued to flash and sing, Garret made sure that the attic door was closed behind him. Then he shut the door behind him as he entered the room.

"I'm surprised that no one's heard this thing yet," Garret said. "Either I come from a family of deep sleepers, or I'm practically the only one who can hear it. In any case, so much for another normal night of sleep. Well, since I was planning to head back anyway, I might as well go now."

He took off his shirt and set it aside as he walked up towards the mirror. He was just about to enter it, but then he remembered back to when he

"Alright mister or rather miss mirror, you want me to head over there, right? Well, I'm ready if you are. Take me to Atlantica alread-"

The teal gem suddenly began to glow as the surface of the mirror once again turned into water. A rope of water shot out from it and began circling Garret going faster and faster until Garret was encased in a dome and with a jump, Garret went inside of the mirror entering the world of Atlantica once again.

* * *

Soon enough, Garret emerged and was back in Atlantica after passing through the portal. He looked around instinctively thinking that he was back in the Royal Treasury, but to his surprise, he wasn't. Instead, Garret found himself in a different location entirely. He was in a room that had an open roof with a strange stone formation with seven mirrors, seven seats, and decorated with seashells and seaweed. He soon was quick to realize where he was.

"Oh man, I must be in some dressing room," he said to himself. "And I'm willing to bet it's Ariel and her sisters. What a cliche," He then sighed. "If this is the mirror's way of a joke, I'm not amused. In any case, I better get out of here before anyone sees me."

He then started to swim out of the room when he heard a voice.

"Garret? Is that you?"

The merboy immediately froze stopping dead in his tracks as he slowly looked behind him. There floating beside the mirror was Attina, Ariel's eldest sister.

"H-Hey there!" Garret spoke nervously. "You're Attina, correct? How you doing?"

Attina crossed her arms and stared sternly at Garret. "Don't avoid the question. What are you doing here? You do realize that this is our dressing room, right?"

"Uh... well," said Garret. "I-I knew that. W-Well I mean I didn't know that, but I uh..."

Garret desperately tried to come up with an excuse as to why he was there, but Attina still stared sternly at him as she raised her brow.

 _"Shoot! I can't tell Attina that I just suddenly popped out of a magic hole which leads to another world!"_ he mentally cried. _"I gotta think of something and fast!  
_

Luckily, Garret immediately thought up an excuse, and he thought it up quick.

"OK. You win," Garret sighed. "I didn't know that this was the dressing room. I kind of got lost while I was trying to find my room. The whole palace is so big; it's practically a maze. One minute, I was swimming through the halls and the next thing I knew, I ended up here. So... sorry and please don't be mad."

Attina stared at Garret. Garret was sure that Attina would be mad and didn't know what would happen, but to his surprise, Attina's face softened as she giggled a little.

"Seriously? You got lost, Garret?" she asked. "Any other person would say that you were lying, but you don't seem to be the type of person to lie. So I suppose I'll believe you."

"You do?" Garret gasped.

Attina nodded. "But I'd be a little more careful next time you get lost," she said. "You were lucky that it was just me in here. If it was all of us well, I'll leave that to your imagination."

Garret knew what Attina meant, and the thought alone made him his cheeks flush bright red with embarrassment. Attina then laughed.

"You should see your face," she said. "You look so cute when you're embarrassed."

"Wh-Whatever! I'm not cute!" Garret huffily replied looking away. "Flattery will get you nowhere, y'know!"

 _"Phew. At least Attina bought it,"_ Garret thought. _"That was way too close for comfort."_

"So... where is everybody?" he asked. "It seems kinda quiet around here."

"That's because everyone's over at the Neptune Ball," said Attina. "You didn't know about it?"

"It's news to me," replied Garret. "But I'm guessing everyone was too busy getting ready for it to tell me anything."

"You're telling me," said Attina rolling their eyes. "Say, since I'm about to head over there myself, why don't we go together?"

"Sure. Might as well," said Garret. "I'm not big on parties, but since everyone's over there, I might as well go there too."

"Then let's go," smiled Attina.

* * *

Attina and Garret soon arrived at the lower levels of the palaces where the Neptune Ball was taking place. There was an octopus that was playing a beautiful melody in the style of Jamaican music with large shells that severed as drums, a piece of coral with seaweed that looked like a guitar, a pair of drums, and a large fish with big teeth severing as a xylophone. As the octopus continued to play, Garret could also see that Sebastian was conducting the octopus smiling with pride. There were also several different couples of sea creatures dancing along from the smallest jellyfish to the biggest tropical fish. There was even a couple of merpeople dancing as well. As Attina and Garret entered, Garret couldn't help but feel impressed.

 _"Wow. These guys sure know how to party,"_ Garret thought to himself.

The two eventually made their way to the back of the party where King Triton sat on his throne watching the party with Ariel and Flounder beside him.

"Ah. Garret. So you there you are, young man," smiled King Triton. "Where have you been?"

Garret was about to speak, but Attina quickly cut him off. "He got a bit lost, Daddy," she said. "I found him wandering in the halls, so I helped him out."

Garret looked at Attina a bit puzzled, while King Triton hummed in understanding.

"So I see," he said. "Well then, it's nice to have you with us, Garret. And thank you for helping him, Attina."

Attina then bowed politely to her father and swam off to join the party, but not before looking back at Garret and giving him a quick wink. Ariel then swam up to him. She was now wearing a wreath of sea flowers around her neck and a flower crown on her head.

"There you are, Garret! I've been looking everywhere for you," said Ariel. "Did you really get lost in the palace?"

"Yeah. I did," Garret lied. "I still would be lost if it wasn't for Attina, but here I am." He then looked back towards the dancing fish and merpeople as the music played. "I'll say this much; I've never seen a ball like this one before. It certainly is unique."

"Yeah. Most of the balls Daddy hosts are like this," said Ariel with a hint of boredom. "The music's nice and stuff, but it's pretty boring."

"Really? Because I think it looks kind of fun," said Garret. "I'm especially fond of the music Crabby's got playing. I'd love to dance along if I wasn't so bad at dancing."

Ariel's face then lit up as she swam to her father whispering something in his ear. King Triton looked at her and nodded.

"Of course. By all means," he said.

Ariel then swam to Garret taking him by the hand and pulling him along into the dance floor much to his surprise.

"A-Ariel! What are you doing?!" Garret asked.

"What do you think? We're gonna dance!" Ariel said brightly.

"B-But I don't know how to dance!" protested Garret. "I mean I can swim just fine with this tail of mine, but how do you expect me to-"

"Don't worry. I'll teach you how," smiled Ariel. "Besides, you picked up on swimming pretty quick; you'll pick up on dancing in no time."

She didn't stop until she and Garret were right in the middle of the dance floor. Ariel then began to dance in time with the music twirling around and shaking her tail fin. Garret just stood there frozen unsure of what to do. Ariel then took his hands and began spinning around while holding them.

"Just let the music flow through you and let your body do the rest," she said. "Let go and have fun!"

Garret stared at Ariel then he let his body relax and listened to the music. His then tried moving his body to the music. It felt a little awkward at first, but his body eventually started to synch with the music and was now dancing along with Ariel. Everyone couldn't help but watch the two of them dance cheering and clapping. Garret and Ariel continued to dance having the time of their lives until the song was over. When it did, all of the fish and merpeople applauded praising them for their dancing. Ariel then bowed, and Garret followed suit blushing a little.

"You see? I told you, you could dance," Ariel said. "You did great!"

"Y-You think so?" asked Garret who was still feeling a bit embarrassed.

"I know so," smiled Ariel. "And so does everyone else. You should have more confidence in yourself."

"Yeah! You were awesome, Garret!" said Flounder who had just swum up to them. "I sure wish I could dance like that!"

A smile then slowly made its way to Garret's cheeks. "I guess you're right," he said. "But you guys are making me blush."

Ariel and Garret went back to King Triton who was smiling cheek to cheek under his beard. However, just as he was about to compliment the two, something caught his eye just outside of the ballroom. A certain young merboy was sneaking around just outside.

"Say, Ariel, Garret, what do you suppose that little fellow is up to?" he whispered to them pointing.

Ariel and Garret looked to where King Triton was pointing and saw Urchin too.

"I don't know. I've never seen him before," said Ariel. "Have you, Garret?"

Garret shook his head. "You got me."

Then as they looked towards some of the bystanders watching the ball, they saw Urchin's hand grab one out of a couple or sea slugs and whisked it away much to their surprise. Sensing that something was up, Garret turned to Ariel and Flounder.

"You two stay here. I'll see what that kid's up to."

He then swam away to investigate, but as he got outside, he was surprised to see that Urchin had mysteriously disappeared. He turned around wondering where Urchin went in time to see the sea slug he took shoot from seemingly out of nowhere and landed right at the tip of Sebastian's baton. Seeing the slug on it, Sebastian quickly shook it trying to get it off. In response and thinking that he wanted to go faster, the octopus sped up its playing, and the attendees began to dance faster too.

"Go away! Get off of dere!" complained Sebastian. "Go! Shoo!"

But the slug was so frightened that it refused to do so which is turn caused Sebastian to shake his baton harder, and that in turn caused the octopus to play faster, and that caused everyone to dance more quickly. As it continued, King Triton and Ariel couldn't help but find the situation a little funny. King Triton was so amused that he couldn't help but laugh and dance in time with the music. Garret then swam in trying to find Urchin as the wild dancing continued.

"This is getting nuts!" Garret cried as he dodged and dipped avoiding getting bumped.

Then he happened to look towards the spread of food. There he saw Urchin stuffing as much food as he could inside of his bag.

"So that's what he's up to!" Garret said. "Hey, you!"

He tried to swim over to Urchin to stop him, but every time he did, he was cut off by a pair of dancing sea creatures or merpeople cutting him off forcing him to swim out of the way. Sebastian shook harder and more violently, and the octopus, as well as the other sea creatures, went faster and faster until finally, something gave. The octopus practically exploded as he collapsed from exhaustion causing everyone to stop. His bag finally full of food, Urchin tied it up tightly and immediately took off leaving the ballroom.

"Hey! Get back here!" yelled Garret as he swam after him in hot pursuit.

"Garret, wait!" called Ariel.

But Garret had already swum outside vanishing from sight. Urchin then looked back and saw that Garret was chasing him, so he pumped up his fins and swam even faster.

"You're not getting away from me!" Garret cried as he too swam faster. "Give back that food, and you'll get off a lot easier!"

Urchin and Garret continued their chase until they got to the outskirts of the Atlanica. Garret put every ounce of muscle he had to try and catch up with Urchin. Seeing that he wasn't going to shake him off, Urchin then dug into his bag and threw some of the food at Garret. Garret ducked and avoided every piece thrown at him.

"Ha! If that's the best you got, then you-" Garret began to say, but then a piece food splattered him right in the face blinding him.

Garret wiped the food off in time to see a rock front him. He tried to stop, but it was too late as he slammed into the rock face first. He stayed there for a few minutes; then he fell flat on his back dazed and stunned. Urchin seeing that his pursuer would give him no more trouble, swam away. Ariel and Flounder soon caught up and saw Garret lying on the ground and came over to him.

"Garret! Are you okay?!" Ariel cried. "Say something!"

"Say, Ariel, you didn't tell me that you had a twin," Garret dizzily replied. "For some reason, I'm starting to see two of you."

"That's... not a good sign," said Flounder.

"Let's get him back to Atlantica," said Ariel. "He's gonna need the doctor."

"But what about that merboy?" asked Flounder. "Shouldn't we follow him?

Ariel shook her head. "We'll worry about him later," she said. "Right now, Garret's more important. Now, come on."

Ariel and Flounder then lifted Garret upright and then swam back to Atlantica.

* * *

Urchin soon made his way back to his place where the Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp were waiting for him. He then dumped out the food from his sack before him.

"Dinner is served, Boss," he said proudly. "I stole it from right out from under the king's nose."

The Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp immediately dug in stuffing their faces full of food as did Urchin.

"Hey, nice going, kid," The, Lobster Mobster said between bites. "Keep up the good work, and I'll make something of you yet."

The three then laughed as they continued eating their fill enjoying themselves to the fullest.


	19. Chapter 19

The next day, Ariel and Flounder were waiting outside of Garret's room. The doctor had been called, and Garret was taken into his room to he could be treated. It had taken quite a bit of time, Ariel and Flounder felt a little impatient, and also a little bit worried. Soon enough, the doctor came out of the room.

"So how is he, Doc?" asked Flounder. "Is Garret, OK?"

"He's doing fine," smiled the doctor. "However, he did bruise his nose according to what you've told me. Because of that, I had to give him a form of treatment to heal his nose."

"Where's Garret then?" asked Ariel.

"Well, he's in his room, but... he's refusing to come out," said the doctor. "He's a bit... embarrassed about the treatment I've given him."

Ariel then looked behind the octopus and then called out to Garret. "Garret? Are you hiding in there? If you are, please come out."

"No way! I'm not coming out!" Garret called back. "I feel silly!"

"Come on. It can't be that bad," Ariel spoke. "Besides, if we're going to find that merboy, we'll need your help."

"Besides, the treatment the doctor gave you can't be that bad," said Flounder.

"You say that, but once you see me, you'll definitely laugh!" Garret spoke.

"It can't be that bad, Garret. Besides, we're your friends. We wouldn't laugh over something like that," said Ariel. "I promise we won't, so, please come out."

There was a brief pause, then Garret sighed. "Oh, OK. You better not laugh," he spoke. "I don't want to hear a single giggle, OK?"

"Promise," reassured Ariel.

"Cross our hearts," added Flounder.

Garret then came out from behind the doctor, his face in a sour and embarrassed frown. He looked pretty much the same, except for one small detail. He now was wearing a black starfish on top of his nose. Flounder then swam up to him, taking a closer look at it.

"Whoa. That actually looks kind of cool," the tropical fish said. "It makes you look like a superhero or something."

"Well, I guess I'll take that as a compliment," Garret sighed, cheering up a bit. "At least it's better than being laughed at."

"Excuse me, sir, but why does he have to wear that on his face?" Ariel asked the octopus.

"Well, it's because his nose has been bruised, no thanks to him striking himself. He was lucky that he didn't break it," explained the doctor. "The starfish on his face to keep the swelling down and so his nose can heal."

"But how long do I have to wear this thing?" Garret asked, pointing to his face.

"I'd keep it on for about a couple days," said the doctor. "So make sure that you keep that on you, and try not to touch it either. You might still feel a little tender."

"I will. Thank you, Doctor," said Garret.

And the doctor then went away.

Garret looked at himself in a mirror in his room. He still felt a little silly, but he also felt a little angry for the reason why he now looked like this.

"Just you wait, once I get my hands on that little merman from the other night, he's going to be sorry!" Garret seethed.

"Take it easy, Garret," soothed Ariel. "There's no need to be so angry."

"But aren't you mad, Ariel?" asked Garret. "I mean that guy not only crashed your Ball, but he also took all of that food!"

"I know, but there had to have been a good reason for him to do what he did," said Ariel. "Until then, let's go to the reef and see if we can find some clues as to where that merboy could have gone to."

And the three friends swam off to begin their search.

* * *

Meanwhile, King Triton was sitting in his throne with Sebastian going about their usual routine, handling their royal duties. They were still thinking about what had happened the other night.

"I wonder if Ariel and her friends are still searching for that boy," King Triton wondered. "Sebastian, do have any idea?"

"Well, your majesty," said Sebastian. "Last time I checked, it would seem that dat Garret boy's bruised his nose, so he's seeing da doctor, but if knowing Ariel, she's going ta drag him with her to look for that lad soon after he's treated."

King Triton hummed stroking his beard in thought. "I'd like to check on those kids, but if I do, Ariel would just think that I'm..."

"Meddling, again," finished Sebastion, understanding. "Then if may I suggest, your majesty, you could probably send someone to do that said meddling."

"Yes, you're right, Sebastian," King Triton murmured in agreement. Then he pointed to the red crab. "You do the meddling."

The red crab was surprised by this turnaround, but he didn't want to go against his king.

"Yes, your majesty," Sebastian said, with a hint of reluctance as he went on his way.

* * *

At the outskirts of Atlantica, Ariel, Garret, and Flounder were looking around the area to see if there was any hint or clue of where Urchin had gone to. So far, they weren't able to find anything, seeing nothing but the colorful fishes and the reefs as they swam. Then Ariel spotted something on the seafloor below, and swam over to investigate. Lying on the ground, was a piece of the food that was stolen from the night, a seaweed bun to be exact.

"Garret. Flounder. Look at this," called Ariel.

Garret and Flounder then swam over as Ariel showed them the bun.

"No doubt about it," said Garret. "That was from the Neptune ball the other night."

Flounder then took notice of another piece of food, this time it was a cupcake, "Here's another one," he said, pointing with his fin.

"That merboy must have had a hole in his sack when he took the food last night," said Ariel. "I bet if we follow it, it'll lead us straight to him."

"Then let's follow it," said Garret. "If it is a trail, we better hurry, otherwise we'll lose it to some hungry sea creatures."

The three then followed the trail of food until they found themselves just outside of Urchin's Cave. They then saw that the trail ended just outside of the cave.

"Looks like we've found where our thief's hideaway is," said Garret. "The trail ends here."

"This also must be where he lives," observed Ariel. "

At that moment, there was the sound of three voices laughing, which thanks to the cave made their voices echo, making them ominous and intimidating, to Flounder at least.

"Well, we solved the mystery, and that sounds like one, big, happy, family," Flounder said quickly, feeling frightened. "Now let's go home."

The blue-yellow tropical fish then turned on his fin about to swim away, but Ariel prevented him by simply grabbing him by the tail without even bothering to look.

"Come on, Flounder, don't bail out now!" Garret whispered harshly. "The thief is right there along with a few buddies, and we got him right where want him! I say we get busy and charge straight in and give them a beating!"

"Or we could just forget about this whole thing and go home," suggested Flounder. "You know, just in case they're too much for us to handle."

Then from inside the cave, the three saw three shadows crawling up the walls meaning that whoever was inside was about to come out. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, Ariel immediately swam towards the entrance with Garret and Flounder close behind. Sure enough, Urchin swam outside along with Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp. Urchin then took notice of the food that was sitting just in front of the cave.

"Oh, looks like I dropped one," Urchin spoke as he bent down to pick it up.

When he did, he soon found himself staring face to face with Ariel and her friends, which surprised him, Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp.

"Uh-oh! It's the princess of the palace!" Urchin gasped.

"You must have been pretty hungry to steal all of that food from the other night," Ariel spoke, gently.

"Food? What food?" asked The Lobster Mobster. "We don't know nothing about no stolen food."

The Lobster Mobster then saw that Da Shrimp was eating a sandwich which was, of course, the stolen food in question. He then bopped his subordinate smack on the head knocking him to the floor, and hid the sandwich behind his back, pretending to be innocent.

Urchin then scowled at Ariel. "Yeah, I'm always hungry, but so what?" he said gruffly. "What would you know about being hungry? You're a princess! All you have to do is play tag around your father's treasure vault all day!"

The Lobster Mobster sensed trouble and smirked feeling delighted.

"Hey! Back off, man!" Garret snapped, swimming in between the two. "At least she doesn't go around stealing food while crashing balls like you!"

Urchin then scowled back at Garret. "And who are you supposed to be, Star-face? Her boyfriend?"

Now Garret felt a little insulted. "Star-face?! Boyfriend?! Why, you little...!"

But Ariel immediately stopped Garret by pushing him away from Urchin giving him a scolding look in her eyes telling him to calm down. She then kindly spoke to Urchin. "Do you like to play tag?" she asked.

"Ah, playing tag is for little kids," scoffed Urchin.

"Yeah. We're into taking over things, see?" The Lobster Mobster added.

"Well, we're into playing tag," Ariel spoke, not paying attention to the lobster as she tapped Urchin by the bang of his hair. "You're it."

She then swam away, leaving everyone dumbfounded and confusion. At that moment, a smile worked its way to Urchin's lips.

"Hey! That's not fair!" the merboy called, as he quickly swam after her.

As he did, Flounder not wanting to miss out on the fun join in on the fun too. Garret, at first, didn't want to play due to still feeling salty about Urchin, but he didn't want to be left behind with the Lobster Mobster and the Da Shrimp, so after giving them a quick stink eye, he followed after them too.

The Lobster Mobster watched them leave; his smirk turned into a frown, while Da Shrimp sighed wistfully.

"That looks like fun, Boss," the tiny shrimp said. Then he got an idea, and tapped the Lobster Mobster on the head.

"Tag! You're it!" Da Shrim said, playfully as he swam away.

However, The Lobster Mobster growled glaring at Da Shrimp, feeling irritated. Da Shrimp swam over wondering what was wrong, but when he was close enough, The Lobster Mobster took off his hat and began whacking Da Shrimp on the head.

"No! You're it, you're it, you're it!" he snapped.

As the two went about their banter, someone else had arrived in the area, having to have followed Ariel and the gang the whole time, and had overheard and saw everything. Sebastian to be exact. And when he saw Urchin with the Lobster Mobster, he couldn't help but feel suspicious as well as worried.

"Da Lobster Mobster!, One of de most criminal crustaceans on da face and da bottom of the sea!" he gasped. "I've got to tell de king about dis!"

He then scampered away, heading back to Atlantica as fast as his crab legs would let him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ariel, Urchin, and Flounder, had a lot of fun playing tag with each other, while Garret followed them from a distance. As he watched them play, Garret was still feeling a bit mistrusting about Urchin, and didn't understand why Ariel was trying to be so friendly with him even after everything that he did. However, he kept silent, wanting to see how it would pan out.

The kids continued to play their game of tag, until Urchin suddenly came to a stop. "Whoa! I've never seen anything like it!" he gasped.

Ariel and Flounder stopped, and she swam over and looked to where Urchin was looking. "Like what?" she asked.

"You know, it!" said Urchin, pointing.

Garret then swam over feeling curious as to what Urchin was pointing at, looking in the direction where he was pointing, and could see nothing but strange rock formations, and some fish swimming around.

"I don't see anything either," he said. "Unless I'm blind or something."

"I'm telling you, I something," insisted Urchin. "And I've never seen anything like it before in my life!"

"What? What, it?!" Ariel asked, now eagerly wanting to know.

Urchin then smiled as he gave Ariel a light poke on her head. "You're it!" he laughed, as he swam away.

Ariel, Garret, and Flounder were surprised at first. Then Ariel and Flounder laughed as Flounder zipped on ahead with Ariel chasing them in hot pursuit, resuming their game of tag. Even Garret couldn't help but smile, feeling a little impressed.

 _"The old boy who cried wolf strategy, huh? Not bad,"_ Garret thought. _"Sounds like something I could have come up with."_

Garret then watched Urchin, Ariel, and Flounder swim around playing tag; he couldn't help but look particularly at Urchin. A moment ago, he appeared to be a mean boy that seemed bitter about being alone, but now just by seeing him smile, Garret was starting to understand that the merboy was just someone who was in the wrong crowd, just like the other kids he saw back at his school. And the more he thought about, he more empathic he felt towards him.

"Hey, Garret! Garret! You OK?"

Garret then looked up, snapping out of his thoughts to see Flounder right in front of his face. "Oh! I'm okay, Flounder. Just fine, sorry."

"Good. In that case..." Flounder spoke, giving Garret a light pat on his head. "You're it!"

He then swam away, leaving Garret a bit surprised. At first, he wasn't going to join in on the game, but then he thought that he could humor them just this once. After all, he deserved to have a little bit of fun too.

"You better watch out, Flounder!" he yelled, pumping his fins. "Because I'm going to get you back for tagging me!"

He shot towards Flounder chasing him, making the fish yelp in surprise, but laugh as he swam away right past Urchin and Ariel. The two happy that Garret was joining in, got in on the fun, and four continued to enjoy their game till it was afternoon.

* * *

After a while, the four took a break, riding on top of a giant manta ray. Flounder and Ariel were looking towards the ground below admiring the view while Ariel sat with Urchin, while brushing her hair with her fingers. She still felt a bit curious about the boy and also wanted to talk some sense into him, so she decided to question him for answers.

"So, how did you get to be friends with that nasty lobster?" asked Ariel.

"I want to be somebody," replied Urchin. "He said that if I joined his mob, I was somebody."

"I think that everybody is somebody already," said Ariel. "Although, you were the somebody that wrecked the Neptune Ball."

Garret and Flounder couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation while pretending to look at the view.

"Ah, please. It wasn't that big a deal," scoffed Urchin as he lied on his back, sniggering. "Besides, those fish-heads of state, needed a little excitement anyway."

"But you should apologize to Daddy," Ariel scolded gently. "And you should stay away from that lobster. He's nothing but trouble."

Urchin then glared. "Apologize? If I'd do that I'd have to be sorry," he said stubbornly. "Besides, the Lobster Mobster says, I did just great. He's my pal, see? He won't make me go crawling to the king like a baby!"

And Urchin swam away in a huff. As Ariel watched him leave, she couldn't help but get a little huffy too.

"Well, I'm not going to twist his fin," Ariel spoke, appearing not to care.

However, she couldn't help frown in worry as she looked back watching as Urchin's body shrank smaller into the distance. Garret and Flounder noticed this and the two went over to her.

"Ariel, why do you care so much about that Urchin guy?" asked Garret. "I mean you know what he did and yet you still want to try and befriend him. Why is that?"

"Well, he's not a bad person," said Ariel. "He's just a boy who just wants friends. You saw the way he was when we started playing with him. He looked so happy."

"Yeah. Urchin doesn't seem to be a bad guy," said Flounder. "Even though he was kind of rude, but I wouldn't mind having him as a friend."

Garret then pondered. Then he nodded. "Yeah. As much as I hate to say it, I have to agree," he said. "But you saw how he acted; he's about as stubborn as stubborn can get. Not only that, but your father isn't exactly an easy guy to apologize to. I mean it's not like we can convince him to talk to Urchin into apologizing to him."

Ariel then gasped having an idea. "Garret, you're a genius!" she cried. "I'll go to Daddy and get him and Urchin to meet. Maybe I can convince Daddy can forgive him!"

"Wait! Ariel! I didn't mean that!" Garret cried. "I was just saying that to be funny!"

But Ariel didn't listen. She had already swum off of the manta and was swimming for home leaving Flounder and Garret behind.

"Geez. Why the heck is she like this?" sighed Garret. "Well, I guess we're following her Flounder. Let's go."

"Why am I not surprised this would happen?" Flounder groaned in agreement. "Hopefully, the king isn't mad about last night."

And the two friends set off following Ariel back to Atlantica feeling uneasy how things would play out.

However, as they did, they failed to notice something that was hiding amongst a forest of kelp. It was big, red, mean-looking crab and had a familiar blue hat on top of its head. Like them, he was eager to get to Atlantica as soon as possible too. Especially because he some business over at Atlantica. Unfinished business.


End file.
